Never Say Never
by AbigailSeville24
Summary: Alvin and Brittany have another fight, but when he gets to an accident 6 years later can he make everything alright? And will what has happened over the past six years shake their relationship forever?
1. Everyone Has A Story To Share

**A/N: **Here is the winner of preview! This story is different then what I thought it first be, and I think you might be surprised by it. To be completely honest I forgot about this story for awhile until MadFCaliburn told me he thought it'd be a great story. So let's hop he's right! lol! Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

A chipmunk was lying in a bed just staring at the ceiling.

Suddenly the door to the room swung open and a chipette holding a tray strolled in.

"Hello Alvin how has your morning been so far?" The chipette asked as she strolled into the room and set the tray down on a table at the other end of the room.

She picked up a cutting knife off the tray and began to cut up some green herbs that were also on the tray.

"It's been alright, Clara. I've just been thinking all morning" Alvin sighed.

Clara didn't look up from what she was doing. "About that Brittany girl?"

Alvin looked at her. "What else would I be thinking about?" He asked.

Clara chuckled. "Honestly, I have no idea. You only think about her." She stopped cutting the herbs and turned towards Alvin.

She pointed her knife at him while she spoke. "However I do know that it is beautiful outside, cold but still beautiful. Yet you are lying in bed like a lazy, fat squirrel. You need to get some exercise."

Alvin rolled his eyes at Clara before he got out of bed, walked to the other side of it, and plopped back down on the bed. "There I exercised, happy?" He asked with a mischievous grin.

Clara shook her head as she went back to the herbs.

"Why do you put up with me?" He asked.

"Because we had a deal. I heal your boo boos," she said causing Alvin to glare at her, "and you help me raise the children"

Alvin smiled as he remembered their deal.

He looked around the room he had called home for the past six years and smiled. He spotted a little chipette's face peeking in.

"Speaking of children" Alvin told Clara quietly.

"What do you need Rosie?" He asked the chipette loudly.

Rosie walked into the room slowly; embarrassed she had been caught spying.

Rosie was small and a little on the chunky side. She was wearing a pink sundress with a pair of sandals. Her strawberry blonde locks were up in pigtails and she had bright blue eyes.

She put her embarrassment aside and looked at Alvin. "Alvin will you tell us a story?"

Alvin's eyebrows shot up. "Us" He repeated.

Two more chipmunks slowly entered the room.

The tallest and skinniest chipmunk out of the three was wearing a blue sweater, jeans, and black glasses.

The other chipmunk was taller than Rosie, but shorter than the other one, and was also average weight. He was wearing a red sweater with a yellow J on it.

"Yeah us" The tallest chipmunk said.

A smirk appeared on Alvin's face. "I thought you two were too old for my stories"

"Alvin, I said that when I was eight and was very immature" The one in the red sweater said.

"You're still eight Jamie" The tallest one told him.

"I am not, I'm eight and 3 quarters. And stop getting all smart aleck on me Ben" Jamie told him harshly.

Their behavior always reminded him of how Simon and he used to fight. He pushed the sad memories out of his head so he could focus on the three kids.

"Guys I was just messing with you. Now what story do you want to hear?" Alvin asked.

Ben was about to speak but Rosie beat him to it. "We want to hear the story of your accident" She said quickly.

Alvin was silent for a moment. He had never told anyone the story of his accident. Clara knew parts of it, but no one but Alvin knew the whole story.

He finally sighed. "Alright get up" he said as he patted the bed.

Ben and Jamie climbed onto the bed and sat in front of Alvin, while Rosie climbed on and snuggled next to Alvin.

Alvin thought about where to begin. He finally figured out a good place to start. "Alright here's what happened…"

_****Flashback****_

_Alvin tapped the glass countertop impatiently. _

_An old woman smiled at him. "In a hurry, are we?" She asked him._

_Alvin nodded. "I'm meeting my girlfriend tonight, I'm actually running late"_

"_Don't worry I'm sure she'll love it" The woman said as she placed a velvet box on the counter._

"_Thank you" Alvin said as he quickly handed the lady his credit card._

_She handed the card back to him and he stuffed the card and the box in his pocket. _

"_Good luck!" She called out to him._

_Alvin ran out of the jewelry store as fast as he could, bumping into a girl as he did so._

"_Hey Alvie, what's the rush? She asked flirtatiously._

_Alvin looked at the girl and noticed it was Alicia from the cheerleading squad Brittany is on. "Hey Alicia, I can't talk right now I have to meet Brittney at the gazebo, and I'm already late." _

_Alvin tried to get past her but she blocked him." Don't be that way Alvie, you know you want me" She leaned against his chest._

_Alvin pushed her off. "I love Brittany Natalie Miller and I always will!" He declared._

_Alicia put her hands on her hips. "What does she have that I don't?" She asked pursing her lips._

_Alvin smiled as he thought about his long time girlfriend, and hopefully soon to be more. "She's beautiful, caring, sweet, smart, funny, a fashion diva, and she can land her double back flip" He said smirking as he referred to the last cheerleading competition when Brittany landed her flip and Alicia didn't._

_Anger boiled inside of Alicia, but she didn't let it show. She twirled a lock of hair in between two of her fingers. "I can do anything better than that rat Whitney" _

_Alvin glared at her. "No one can do anything better than Brittany" He put emphasis on her name. _

_He tried to shove past her again but this time she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss._

_It only lasted a couple of moments before Alvin pushed her off. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "What's your problem?"_

_He didn't wait for an answer he was late enough already. _

_He shoved her aside finally and began running toward Brittany's and his meeting place. _

_He ran until a gazebo came into a view._

_He slowed down and dug his hand in his pocket making sure a box was still in its place._

_He walked up to the gazebo and lingered at the entrance to look at his beautiful girlfriend._

_She was wearing her long auburn hair down, and was wearing a hot pink dress that went down to her knees, with silver high heels._

_He walked slowly up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sorry I'm late" He whispered into her ear._

"_I know you were busy" She muttered not looking Alvin in the eye._

_He let go. "Are you alright Britt?" He asked._

_She turned to face him. Her makeup was smeared from obvious tears._

"_How could you do something like that?" She asked._

"_Do what?" Alvin asked confused._

_Brittany pushed her phone in front of his face. It was a picture of Alicia kissing him._

"_Britt I didn't kiss her!" Alvin exclaimed._

"_Don't lie to me" Brittany said as she made her way out of the gazebo._

"_Brittany wait" Alvin chased after her and grabbed her wrist. _

_She faced him and growled, "Let go of me Alvin"_

_Rain began to pour out of the sky but Alvin didn't care if he got wet, he just wanted his Brittany back._

"_What can I do Brittany? What can I do Brittany to make you believe me?" He practically pleaded with the chipette._

"_You want to do me a favor Alvin, and then just leave." She freed her wrist and began to walk away. _

_She paused and Alvin thought she would give him a second chance, but instead she turned around her gaze cold as she spoke. "Actually Alvin do me a favor and drop dead!"_

_She pulled her jacket around her tighter as she began running._

_Alvin began running after her. _

_He lost sight of her as he came to a road. _

_He looked around and a light was heading straight towards him. _

_The last though he remembered having, was that Brittany got her wish before he slipped into darkness._

_***Flashback Interrupted***_

"Medicine time" Clara announced as she handed Alvin a glass of green mush.

"Mom" All three kids cried out in protest.

"Guys I have had a sore throat and asked your mom to whip me something up real quick. We can take a little break from the story" Alvin said as he stared at the drink and wriggled his nose in disgust.

"Bottoms up" He said as he raised his glass, pinched his nose, and chugged the drink.

He handed the empty glass back to Clara.

"That drink is bitter!" He exclaimed.

"It's borage" Clara said.

"Can we get back to the story?" Jamie asked irritated.

"That's pretty much it" Alvin told him.

"What about when you met Mom, found out you were miles away from home, found out you were in a stranger's house, and then struck a deal with Mom" Ben counted off his fingers.

"You guys remember that part" Alvin said.

"Alvin I was four" Ben told him.

"I was two" Jamie added.

"I was only a couple of days old" Rosie chimed in.

Alvin finally sighed in defeat. "Alright here's what happened when I woke up….."

_***Another Flashback***_

_Alvin groaned as he opened his eyes._

_He looked around and saw a chipette that looked in her late twenties. Her light brown hair was in a long ponytail, and she was wearing an old orange dress that had stains all over it._

_Alvin tried to sit up in the bed he was in but ended up grunting in pain._

_The chipette gasped when she saw that Alvin was awake. _

"_Here let me help you" She said as she rushed over to Alvin's side and helped him sit up._

"_Who the heck are you" Alvin asked through gritted teeth as she helped him._

"_I'm Clara. My husband found you half dead on a road after you got hit by a car. You are currently in my home." Clara told him._

_A loud cry suddenly entered the room._

_Clara turned her attention to a basket that was filled with pink blankets._

_She picked up a little crying bundle of fur. "Shh, Rosalinda it's alright." _

"_Mommy!" A voice from somewhere else in the house cried._

"_Mother!" Another voice cried a couple seconds later._

_Clara looked at her baby, them she looked at the door that led out of the room._

"_I'll take her" Alvin spoke up._

_Clara thought for a moment before she spoke. "Alright her name is Rosalinda" She said as she laid the baby in Alvin's arms._

_She walked to the doorway and looked back at Alvin before leaving._

_Alvin adjusted his arms so he was supporting the crying baby better._

"_Shh, it's alright" He whispered but it didn't seem to help._

_Alvin continued to cradle the crying baby when a thought came across his mind. "Hush little chipette don't say a word. Alvie's gonna buy you a mocking bird. And if that mocking bird don't tweet, Alvie's gonna buy you a special treat" He sang softly; surprised that Rosalinda had stopped crying, and was now smiling._

"_So do you like music Rosalinda? I'm sorry I can't call you that. How about Rosie?" He asked the infant._

_Rosalinda giggled in response._

"_Rosie it is" Alvin said._

_He smiled as he watched Rosie's eyelids flutter open for a moment before they closed._

_Clara came back into the room surprised to see her daughter asleep._

"_Thank you so much; I'm sorry, what's your name again?" She asked as she took her baby out of his arms._

"_It's Alvin, Alvin Seville" Alvin told her as he watched her put Rosie back into the basket._

"_Clara where's your husband?" Alvin asked curiously._

_Clara looked over at Alvin sadly. "He died last night after he brought you here."_

"_I'm so sorry" _

"_He only saw Rosalinda a couple of times" She murmured as she gazed at her daughter._

"_What was he like?" Alvin asked trying to cheer her up._

_Clara sniffled. "Well he was smart, he could always make me laugh, and he was very adventurous." Clara began to laugh a bit. "If I had an acorn for every time he went to L.A"_

"_Wait you know where L.A is?" Alvin cut her off._

"_Of course I do!" Clara exclaimed like Alvin was an idiot._

"_Well how far away is it from here? I need to get home" Alvin said urgently._

"_Alvin you're not even in California anymore" Clara told him._

"_What!" Alvin exclaimed._

"_You're in a forest in Oregon; well we're basically on the border, but still." Clara said._

"_Great what am I going to do" He said only thinking about Brittany._

"_Well I have an offer if you're willing to take it. I'll let you stay here if you do something for me" Clara said._

"_What can I do for you?" Alvin asked._

"_Will you help me raise my children?" She asked._

_Alvin looked at her dumbfounded. "You want me, one of the most irresponsible eighteen year old chipmunks out there, to help me raise your children?" _

"_Please Alvin, you need a place to stay, and I need some help with my children" Clara pleaded._

"_I guess I have no other choice. But this is temporary. It's just until I can get back home." Alvin told her._

_Clara nodded. "Of course. Now c'mon you need to meet my boys. Benjamin and Jameson"_

_Alvin groaned. "We really need to discuss nicknames"_

_***Flashback Over***_

"And the rest is history" Alvin said.

"Wait if you said this is a temporary thing, then why have you been here for the past six years?" Jamie asked.

Alvin shrugged. "I don't really know. But one day I'm going to go back to L.A and be reunited with my Brittany"

"I like Miss Brittany. She sounds really cool" Rosie said.

"Aright children, let's give Alvin a break. We need to go shopping anyway" Clara said.

"Yes Mother" Rosie and Ben said dully as they gave Alvin a hug, climbed off the bed, then left the room.

Jamie on the other hand protested. "Do I have to?"

"Now" Clara barked.

Jamie knew not to complain any more. He gave Alvin a hug then quickly followed his siblings out of the room.

Clara smiled contently. She looked at Alvin. "Alvin, can you promise me something"

"Depends what it is"

"Will you do something other than think about Brittany?" Clara asked.

Alvin shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't make that promise"

Clara smiled at him. "She must be some chipette then"

Alvin put his hands behind his head and sighed. "You have no idea"


	2. Moving On Is Better Said Than Done

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait. I had a bit of writers block but thanks to Simon wanna be's idea I had an idea for this chapter. Sorry it's so short but I'll update soon! Please R&R! Oh and for those of you who are wondering, Clara doesn't have a crush on Alvin!

* * *

Brittany looked up from reading over the lyrics to the song.

She smiled at a photo that was on her vanity then frowned at it.

The photo was of Alvin Seville, her ex-boyfriend. He died about six years ago.

Normally the girlfriend would be upset if her boyfriend died, but it was different for Brittany. Alvin had cheated on her earlier that day and they had a fight. Well it was more like Brittany yelled at him and he tried to apologize.

"It's Alvin right?" Her hairstylist Sandra asked as she stood behind Brittany.

Brittany pointed to the photo of her and Alvin at the festival. "That's the traitor"

Sandra nodded. "And he died right?"

Brittany nodded.

"How did you find out?" Sandra asked.

Brittany glanced at her irritated. "Don't you have something else to do?"

Sandra shrugged and pulled up a chair next to Brittany. "Not really"

Brittany let out a deep breath. "I don't really like telling this story, but alright…"

_***Flashback***_

_Brittany stormed into her apartment and slammed the door behind her._

_She marched to the fridge and grabbed a tub of ice cream then grabbed a spoon from one of her kitchen drawers._

_She plopped on her couch and began to shovel spoonfuls of the frozen treat in her mouth._

_It didn't take long for her anger to turn into sadness and tears began forming in her eyes._

'_Why did Alvin kiss her?' She asked herself._

_A knock on the door interrupted Brittany from her thoughts._

_Brittany set the ice cream down and went to answer the door._

_She opened her front door to see a police officer standing there._

"_Can I help you?" Brittany asked._

"_Are you Brittany Miller?" The officer asked._

"_Yes I am" Brittany said._

"_Do you recognize this munk?" The officer asked as he held up a picture of a chipmunk lying on the side of the road._

_Brittany gasped. "Alvin" She whispered as she looked at the photo._

"_You do know him" The officer asked._

_Brittany looked back up at him. "Unfortunately" She mumbled._

"_Would you mind coming with me. This munk was found on the side of the road after a car hit him. His wallet and other things if he had them must have scattered when the car hit him. We didn't find much on him but he did have a card in his pocket that had your name on it." He said._

"_He was hit by a car?" Brittany asked._

_The officer nodded. "Pretty hard too."_

_Brittany felt horrible. "Let me get my coat and we'll go" _

_She rushed into her apartment and put the ice cream back in the freezer with the spoon still in it. _

_She grabbed her coat and bag before she rushed out of her apartment to meet the officer back outside. _

"_He just vanished" A voice on the officer's walkie talkie said._

"_How can a chipmunk just vanish into thin air?" The officer yelled._

"_We're trying to find him. We saw something come from the other side of the road and we left the munk for a minute or two. When we came back he was gone" The voice said._

"_Alvin is gone" Brittany asked._

_The officer turned towards her. "I'm sorry Miss. We'll start looking for him immediately. Right now you better call up the friends and family of the chipmunk and let them know what happened."_

_***Flashback Over***_

"Did they find him?" Sandra asked.

"They searched for about a day. But since Alvin was a chipmunk he was classified as road kill and they stopped looking." Brittany said bitterly.

"Miss Miller your sister is here to see you" A woman informed Brittany.

"Jeanette or Eleanor?" Brittany asked.

"Eleanor" The woman said.

Brittany turned in her chair to see her youngest sister standing by the entrance to the studio.

She gestured for her to come over and Eleanor slowly walked over to her sister.

"Hey El" Brittany greeted.

"Hey Britt" Eleanor said.

"Kathryn why don't we leave them alone for awhile" Sandra suggested.

The woman who informed Brittany that Eleanor was here nodded in agreement. "Alright Sandra"

The woman walked away slowly trying to see if they could hear the sisters' conversations.

"What brings you here Ellie?" Brittany asked as she picked up her lyrics sheet once more.

"I wanted to know if you are coming to Alvin's memorial service or not. You still haven't told us." Eleanor said.

Brittany looked at her sister coldly. "I told you I'm not going to anything associated with Alvin"

"C'mon Brittany. Jeanette will be flying in from Greece to attend, Dave is coming into town with his wife and the girls, Theodore, and I are going, and even Simon is flying down from New York." Eleanor said.

Brittany pursed her lips. "Well I'm not Jeanette, I'm not Theodore, I'm not you, and thank god I'm not Simon"

"Please come tomorrow Brittany" Eleanor pleaded.

"The chapter of my life with Alvin Seville is over. I'll come see Jeanette but I'm not going to Alvin's memorial" Brittany said.

"Brittany, just admit you still love Alvin. Even after you saw that picture of him kissing Alicia." Eleanor said. "If you didn't love him you wouldn't keep that picture of you and him."

Eleanor didn't even wait for her sister to retort.

She turned around and stormed out of the studio.

She was almost to her car when she heard a voice call after her.

"Ellie wait!"

Eleanor turned around to see Brittany running after her.

Brittany reached her and held out the photo of her and Alvin. "Take this. I don't want it."

Eleanor took the picture and without another word Brittany turned around and walked back to the building.

Eleanor let out a breath and looked at Alvin in the picture. "She wasn't such a diva before you left"

* * *

"She's not coming" Eleanor Seville announced as she walked into her home.

Theodore Seville looked up from paying the bills as his wife entered. "She's not coming" He repeated.

Eleanor walked over to her husband and kissed him on the cheek. "You knew she wouldn't come" She said before she walked into the kitchen.

"But it's Alvin's memorial." Theodore protested. "She has to be there."

Eleanor sighed as she began to fill a pot with water. "She said that the chapter of her life with Alvin Seville is over. She doesn't want anything to remind her of Alvin."

Theodore sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's like no one cares about Alvin anymore."

Eleanor set the pot aside and walked back over to her husband. She wrapped her arms around him. "They care Teddy. They're just afraid to show how much care" She said.


	3. Families Shouldn't Have To Separate

**A/N: **I told ya I would update soon! Here is the next chapter but don't think I'll update this soon anytime soon! lol! Please R&R!

* * *

"Shh" Jamie whispered to his siblings.

They were standing outside in front of Alvin's room wearing light jackets over their normal clothes and scarves around their necks.

They each hid something behind their backs as they slid into Alvin's room and all gathered in front of Alvin's bed.

After watching the sleeping Alvin for a couple of seconds before Ben brought his hand from behind his back to reveal a snowball.

"One" Ben whispered.

"Two" Rosie squealed quietly as she revealed her own snowball.

"Three" Jamie whispered with an evil smirk as he revealed his snowball.

All three of them threw their snowballs hitting Alvin.

"Ahh!" Alvin yelled as he jumped up in his bed.

"Good morning Alvin" The three kids chorused with innocent looks on their faces.

"Guess what happened last night?" Rosie asked as she skipped over to the side of Alvin's, now wet, bed

"It snowed" Alvin guessed miserably.

"How did you know?" Rosie asked.

"Well my room is colder then it normally it is, there is snow near my window, and my bed is wet since you three decided to wake me up with snowballs this morning." Alvin told her.

They all grinned sheepishly at him.

Alvin rolled his eyes with a smile planted on his face.

"I'll meet you guys downstairs in a couple of minutes for breakfast" Alvin told them.

"Alright" The kids all agreed before they ran out of the room.

Alvin slowly climbed out of bed and looked at the room he had called his home for the past six years.

It wasn't very much.

A bed sat against the far wall of the circular room. Well it wasn't really a bed. More like an old mattress with quilts piled on top of it.

There was a dresser on the wall across from the bed and a small table was to the left where Clara left the tray yesterday.

To the right of the dresser was another table. This one had two bowls on it and a box underneath it with toiletries in it.

The walls were a pinkish color. Clara loved to tell the story of how her husband and her spent a whole day trying to find the pink berries then spent the whole night mashing them and using the juice as paint. The fact that it was pink reminded Alvin of Brittany, but since the room was originally Rosie's nursery he lived with the pink.

Rugs, old clothes, and rags covered the hard wood floor as a makeshift carpet.

The door was really just an old orange blanket hanging in the doorway.

The window was a smaller version of the doorway and was in a rougher shape because of weather it had endured.

Alvin stood up and stripped the mattress of the wet sheets and threw them into a basket that was sitting beside the dresser.

He walked over to the dresser and opened it. Alvin only had four outfits so he immediately grabbed his summer clothes.

He quickly changed and threw his sleeping clothes into the basket.

He walked over to the window and pushed the blanket aside.

"Good morning Alvin" An elderly voice shouted.

Alvin smiled as he looked at the tree across form Clara's.

On the porch was an elderly chipette sitting in her rocking chair.

"Good morning Mrs. Baker" Alvin called.

"How are you today?" She shouted.

"I've got snowballed this morning" He shouted to her.

He could see her thin lips form a smile. "You have to love the children"

Alvin chuckled. "You know I do"

"Good day Alvin" She shouted as she waved.

Alvin waved back. "Good day to you too Mrs. Baker"

He let the blanket fall back into place before he picked up the basket and headed towards the stairs.

* * *

"Good morning all" Alvin said cheerfully as he stepped of the last step into the kitchen.

"Morning Al" Jamie and Ben said simultaneously as they sat at the table with a chess board.

"Good morning Alvin" Rosie greeted as she stood on a wooden stool beside a black pot. She was stirring a wooden spoon slowly with Clara's standing close behind her.

Clara didn't even glance in his direction. "More laundry Alvin"

It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Alvin swore Clara had eyes in the back of her head. But he learned most mothers seem to.

"It's not much" He said as he placed the basket beside the stairs.

"Want to play chess Alvin?" Ben asked.

"Sure Ben" Alvin said as he sat down at the table.

"Alvin, how do humans get to work again?" Ben asked.

"They ride in these devices called cars" Alvin told him as he moved a piece on the chess board.

"Well what are cars?" Ben asked as he moved a piece.

Alvin moved another piece. "It's like a big metal monster that drinks gas"

"Checkmate" Ben declared.

Alvin smiled. "You got me Ben"

"Want to play again?" Ben asked enthusiastically.

Rosie walked over to them holding two bowls. "Not now Ben. Breakfast is ready."

Clara was right behind her daughter carrying three bowls. "Chess away Benjamin"

"Yes Mother" Ben said as he picked up the chess board and walked into the living room.

Clara and Rosie passed out the bowls and then sat down.

When Alvin first came here the different types of acorn soups, herb salads, and nut stews disgusted him. But now he was pretty fond of them. He wouldn't choose them over toaster waffles, but it was definitely better than starving to death.

"What's the big occasion?" Alvin asked noticing it was one of the more special meals.

"Well I thought we needed to celebrate since Alvin has been here for exactly six years in two days" Clara announced.

"Then why are we celebrating today?" Ben asked as he walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Clara didn't answer her son. Instead she just began eating her breakfast.

The kids looked at Alvin to see if he knew what was wrong with her but he just shrugged it off and began eating.

The kids followed his lead and began to eat their own breakfasts.

Alvin knew something was bothering Clara but he just couldn't figure out what.

* * *

"The fat cat sat..." Rosie read from her beginner reading book as she sat in Alvin's lap, in front of the fire later that evening.

"On" Alvin helped her.

Rosie nodded. "On a mat" She finished.

"Great job Rosie. Now read it backwards" Alvin said.

"Alvin" Rosie protested.

Alvin chuckled. "Alright I guess we'll work on that later."

Rosie pushed the book aside and picked up the doll her mother made for her.

Jamie looked at his sister with an evil look.

He snatched the doll out of her hands and ran over to the fire.

He dangled it over the fire. "Wonder if it will she burns like wood"

"Jamie" Rosie whined.

"Jamie, give her the doll back" Alvin ordered sternly.

"Fine" Jamie mumbled as he tossed the doll back to his sister then sat back down beside Ben who was reading a book.

"Are you ready for your present Alvin?" Clara asked as she walked in the room holding an envelope and a small wrapped bundle.

"I get a present" Alvin asked.

Clara nodded. "Of course you do"

She handed the envelope and the bundle to him and then took a seat on a chair.

Alvin looked at the children who were waiting to see what Alvin received.

Alvin chose to open the bundle first. He pulled on the string and the wrapping fell off to reveal a red shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Human clothes" Alvin said with a chuckle.

Clara nodded. "I hope they fit"

"Thanks Clara" Alvin said.

"Open the envelope" Rosie cheered as she snuggled closer to Alvin.

Alvin nodded and ripped the envelope open.

A small rectangular piece of paper fell out. Alvin picked it up and looked up at Clara. "A one-way train ticket to L.A"

Clara could only nod again. "The first snow fall happened last night Alvin. It's better to go before leaf-bare sets in."

Alvin had gotten used to Clara's talk. Leaf-bare meant winter while leaf-fall meant fall, new leaf meant spring, and green-leaf meant summer.

"We're going to L.A" Rosie exclaimed.

Jamie shook his head. "Wake up and smell the fox dung twerp. Alvin's leaving us and he's never coming back"

"Oh" Rosie said quietly; obviously hurt.

Ben tried to hide the fact he was close to tears by burying his nose in his book.

Jamie stood up and stormed out of the room.

"Jameson" Clara yelled after him.

Alvin slid Rosie off of his lap. "I'll go talk to him"

* * *

Alvin pushed the curtain aside and took a step in Ben and Jamie's room.

The boys shared a room while Alvin and Rosie had their own rooms. The boys' room was larger than theirs though.

Just like Alvin's room the floor was covered with rags and rugs. There were two mattresses, a dresser, and a small table with two bowls on it.

The walls in this room however were a bluish color since it was Ben's room first. The blanket covering the doorway and window was red as a compromise for Jamie.

Unlike Alvin's room there was also a small toy box filled with sports items and a bookcase that was half filled with books.

"Hey Bud" Alvin greeted Jamie who was lying on his mattress, throwing a ball in the air and catching it.

"Don't talk to me" Jamie grumbled.

Alvin walked over and sat beside him on the mattress. "You know I don't take orders easily"

Jamie smiled. "I don't either."

Alvin punched him lightly in the arm. "What's wrong?"

"You're leaving" Jamie sighed.

"It's not like I'm dying. I'll come and visit." Alvin said.

Jamie shook his head. "No you won't. You'll be with your L.A family and forget all about us. And even if you do visit it won't be the same"

He got off the bed and began pacing. "I mean who will sing Rosie to sleep we she has nightmares, or calm me down when I'm in one of my tantrums, or keep Ben in his place when he starts acting like he's a grown up? Who will play sports with us, and keep me and Ben from killing each other, or help us pull pranks, and who will cover for us when we do bad stuff and get busted by Mom? It won't be the same"

Alvin sighed. "I'll come back" He finally said.

Jamie stopped pacing. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Alvin. "How do I know? I was stupid to think when I was younger that my dad was coming back but he's not here."

"That was different. Your father died and Clara didn't want to tell you." Alvin pointed out.

"I'm still not convinced you'll come back" Jamie said.

Alvin stood up and headed to the doorway. "Come on"

Jamie gave him a funny look but followed him out of his room, in the hallway, then to Alvin's room.

"What are we doing in your room?" Jamie asked as Alvin walked over to his dresser and pulled out a box.

"Know what this is?" Alvin asked as he set the box on the mattress.

"That's the box you have all of your old stuff in" Jamie said as he sat down beside Alvin on the mattress.

Alvin lifted off the lid to reveal all of his old things.

Jamie immediately began rummaging through Alvin's things. "Here are your old clothes, here's your wallet, and here's the ring you were going to propose to Miss Brittany with."

Alvin picked up the small velvet box with only one thought in mind. His Brittany. He still remembered everything about her. Her soft auburn hair, her beautiful sapphire blue eyes, and the way she freaked out over little things…

"Earth to Alvin" Jamie exclaimed snapping Alvin out of his thoughts.

"Sorry" Alvin mumbled as he placed the velvet box back.

Jamie rolled his eyes and Alvin thought he heard him grumble, "Brittany"

Alvin finally spotted the item he brought the box out for in the first place.

His red cap.

He picked up the cap and held it for Jamie to see. "Remember this?"

"That's the cap your dad gave you" Jamie said.

Alvin nodded before he placed it on Jamie's head.

"Wait, are you serious?" Jamie asked.

Alvin nodded. "I need someone to take care of it for me. And this way you know I'll come back"

Jamie smiled then his face fell. "I still can't believe you're leaving"

Alvin sighed then saw Ben and Rosie peeking in. "You two are terrible spies you know"

Rosie ran and jumped on the mattress while Ben jumped walked over and sat down.

"Why do have to go Alvin?" Rosie asked as she snuggled up in Alvin's lap.

"I have to get back to my family" Alvin told her.

"But we're your family too" Jamie protested.

Alvin sighed. He noticed Ben still hadn't spoken since Clara gave him a ticket. "Are you okay Ben?"

"No. I already lost a dad I don't want to lose another one" Ben said.

Jamie and Rosie had called Alvin dad or referred to Alvin as their father. But Ben never had.

"I'll come visit guys all the time" Alvin said; not really sure what else he could say.

"Cross your heart" Rosie said as she traced an x over her heart.

"Multiply pie" Ben said.

"Stick one finger up your eye" Jamie said.

Alvin chuckled before he crossed an x over his heart with his finger. "Cross my heart, multiply pie, stick one finger up my eye" Alvin said as he slowly moved his finger closer and closer to his eye.

"Stop! Don't do it!" Rosie exclaimed as she covered her eyes.

Alvin and the boys laughed at her typical behavior.

"I'm gonna miss you guys" Alvin said as he looked at the kids.

The kids tackled Alvin in a hug. "We'll miss you too Alvin"

Clara watched them from the doorway. "I hope I'm doing the right thing" She whispered to herself.


	4. Goodbyes Are Never Easy

**A/N: **Thanks to all the great reviewers out there! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please R&R!

* * *

Alvin sighed as he snapped his trunk closed.

He stopped and looked around at his room for the last time.

The bed had been stripped of its sheets, the curtain that had been a door had been taken down to be washed, and all of Alvin's belongings were packed in the trunk Clara gave him that used to belong to her husband.

He allowed his gaze to linger on all of the things that had been his for the past few years before he picked up his trunk and left his room.

Alvin went down the stairs and dropped his trunk at the bottom. "Clara, I'm ready to go when you are"

He looked to see that Clara was nowhere in sight.

"Clara" He called again as he walked into the living room surprised that the fire was out and the room was empty as well.

"Kids" He yelled as he wandered out onto the front porch. "This isn't funny you three"

"Lost something Alvin?" An elderly voice asked him.

Alvin turned to see Mrs. Baker sitting in her rocking chair on her front porch like she normally was. She had an amused glint in her eyes as she gave him smile. "Clara went to the community garden while I believe those kids are hiding from you."

Alvin smiled gratefully. "Thanks Mrs. Baker."

"It's my pleasure Alvin." She said before she leaned back in her rocker. "So word in the forest is you're leaving us Al"

Alvin shifted his gaze uncomfortably. "Yeah, pretty much."

Mrs. Baker slowly rose from her chair and walked into her tree without another word.

Alvin waited a few moments before he sighed and turned back to enter his own tree and find the kids. Well Clara's tree.

"And where do you think you're going young munk" The same elderly voice ordered in a motherly tone.

Alvin spun back around to see Mrs. Baker clutching a manila folder to her chest.

She walked over and sat back down and beckoned Alvin over.

Alvin went down the front porch steps and up Mrs. Baker's steps.

"Pull up a chair" She ordered as she began to flip through the papers in the folder.

Alvin did what he was told and grabbed an old, white, wicker chair.

"What is that?" Alvin asked as he sat down beside her.

"The Morrison file" Mrs. Baker responded.

Mr. Baker had been a lawyer before he died of an awful fever a couple months after Alvin arrived in the forest. Alvin attended the funeral even though he only spoke to the munk a couple of times.

But after her husband died, Mrs. Baker took up all of her husband's clients and became the Morrison's lawyer.

It took awhile before Alvin figured out that Clara's last name was Morrison. Of course he should have probably figured since all of her legal documents were in the Morrison file.

Alvin furrowed his brow. "Why are you looking at Clara's papers?"

"Not just Clara's, yours and Mark's too" Mrs. Baker responded as she pulled out a paper.

Mark was Clara's husband. He was apparently greatly respected around the forest before he died, judging by all the forest creatures that attended the funeral.

"Recognize this?" Mrs. Baker asked as she handed Alvin the paper.

Alvin's brow stayed furrow as he recognized the paper. "My Will"

Mrs. Baker nodded. "I remember when my husband forced you to write that. You didn't realize that around here even a cough could turn deadly"

Alvin's brow relaxed and he nodded as he looked at the piece of paper. He looked up at her. "Why are you giving me this?"

"You're leaving. Take it with you. To remember me by" Mrs. Baker said in short sentences.

Alvin stood up and shoved the document in his pocket. "You know chipmunk lawyers are so much different than human lawyers"

Mrs. Baker nodded with a smile on her face. "I know"

* * *

Alvin knocked on the wall beside Rosie's room; the only room he hadn't searched for the kids in.

He pushed part of the curtain aside and saw Ben, Jamie, and Rosie sitting on the bed.

He shoved the curtain and took a step into the room. "there you kids are"

"What's it to you" Jamie grumbled.

Alvin leaned against the doorway. "We're about to leave for the station"

"We're not going" Rosie said as she hugged her doll close to her chest.

Ben stayed silent as his eyes looked clouded with thoughts.

"Why don't you want to come see me off?" Alvin asked as he walked over and sat down beside them on the bed.

"Because we don't want you to go. We've already lost one dad, and we don't want to lose another" Ben said after a couple moments of silence.

Alvin ran a paw through his hair. Ben kept on bringing up Mark Morrison and Alvin was never comfortable with them saying he was "replacing" their father.

"Guys I'm not your dad. I was just doing a favor for your Mom at the beginning. I never thought I'd become your dad." Alvin began uncomfortably.

"But you did Al" Jamie protested. "I can't even remember my dad. All I remember is you"

Rosie nodded in agreement as she clutched her doll.

Alvin ran a paw through his hair. "You guys aren't making this any easier."

Jamie smirked. "We know"

Alvin stood up. "Well, I'll make you guys a deal. Either you guys can come with me to the station to say goodbye, or I can just leave with your mom without another word."

He left the three chipmunks sitting on the bed unsure about what to do behind as he exited Rosie's room and went downstairs.

"How did it go?" Clara asked from her seat at the table.

"I told them they could either come to the station or we would leave without another word" Alvin said as he took a seat.

Clara smiled. "You did the right thing"

Alvin sighed. "I hope so"

It didn't take much longer for the kids to come down the steps in order from oldest to youngest.

"We'll come" Ben said.

Alvin got up from the table and hugged all three of the kids. "I hope you know I'm glad you're coming. Someone needs to carry my trunk."

* * *

"So is this goodbye?" Rosie asked.

Alvin's train was leaving in three minutes and he had been trying to put off goodbye but he couldn't any longer.

"I guess so Rosie Posie" Alvin said as he bent down to her eye-level.

Rosie flung her arms around his neck. "I'm gonna miss you Alvie"

Alvin hugged her back. "I'll miss you too. Work on your reading and don't let your brothers leave you out, okay?"

Rosie nodded as she let go of Alvin and wiped her eyes with her doll.

Alvin turned to Jamie and gave him a hug. "Bye Al"

"Bye kiddo." Alvin pulled away from the chipmunk and looked him in the eye. "Try to behave?"

Jamie smiled. "It won't do any good"

Alvin shook his head as he turned to Ben. He placed his paws on Ben's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "You're the munk of the house now Ben, can you handle looking after your Mom and siblings without me?"

Ben nodded. "As long as Jamie behaves I think I can handle it"

Alvin smiled at Ben for a couple more minutes before Ben threw his arms around Alvin's neck. "I'll miss you Alvin"

Alvin hugged him back. "I'll miss you too"

Ben let go of him and wiped his glasses as Alvin stood up and turned to Clara.

She smiled at him before she hugged him tightly. "Take care of yourself"

"Back at ya" He replied before he let go.

He looked at the kids knowing if he didn't leave now he would never leave.

"Well bye guys" Alvin said as he picked up his trunk.

"Don't leave!" Rosie wailed as she clung to Alvin's leg.

Ben grabbed Rosie's arm. "C'mon Rose, Alvin's got to go."

Rosie sniffled as she reluctantly let go of Alvin's leg and hugged her eldest brother tightly.

Alvin looked at Clara who gestured for him to leave already.

He nodded and boarded the train looking back at them once to see them all looking at him with tears in their eyes.

He felt miserable as he found an empty compartment and placed his trunk in the overhead compartment.

He pulled out two photos as he sat down beside the window. One was of him and Brittany while the other was of him and the Morrisons.

A man peeked into the compartment. "Is there a spare seat in here?"

Alvin nodded and the man came in with a rolling suitcase.

The man put his luggage up and saw Alvin staring at the pictures. "So are you going home or are you leaving?"

The train began to move forward and Alvin saw Ben, Jamie, and Rosie running to stay with the train as they yelled and waved to him.

He watched them until they disappeared before he looked at the pictures, then back at the man. "I don't even know" He finally responded.

* * *

Alvin dropped the trunk at his feet as he sat at the bar. He pulled out a blank piece of paper and a pen and began scribbling a letter to Clara and the kids.

When he finished he looked up to see a chipmunk sitting next to him looking at something with sad eyes.

"You okay?" Alvin asked him.

The chipmunk nodded. "Yeah I'm just making sure everything is right for my brother's memorial tomorrow. He died six years ago."

"What was his name?"

"Alvin, Alvin Seville. I'm Theodore by the way." Theodore looked at Alvin. "And you are?"

Alvin's eyes widened. His own brother didn't recognize him. Well he actually thought he was dead when really he had been in the forest raising kids who weren't even his.

"I'm Mark, Mark Morrison" Alvin lied quickly.

Theodore smiled brightly. "Well Mark where are you staying?"

Alvin shrugged. "I don't really know yet"

"Well, why don't you come over to my house? My wife Eleanor could whip you up something to eat." Theodore suggested.

"_He married Eleanor?" _Alvin thought.

He shook his head. "I don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense Ellie loves to entertain. She's been going through some tough spots with both of her sisters. She could use some more company"

Alvin slowly nodded. "I guess I could"

Theodore's smiled wider, if possible. "That's great!"

Alvin slid off the bar stool and grabbed his trunk.

"Here I'll get that Mark" Theodore said as he grabbed the trunk.

"Thanks Theodore" Alvin said.

On one hand he was happy to be back in human civilization and to see his baby brother again, but on the other hand he was still homesick.


	5. You Can't Fool The Queen

**A/N:**The next chapter. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! it means a lot to me! This is one of my favorite chapters so far. You'll have to read to see why!** ;)  
**

* * *

"Ellie I'm home!" Theodore announced as he and Alvin stepped into the small home.

"I'm in the kitchen," A voice called.

Theodore gestured for Alvin to follow him. "C'mon, I want you to meet Eleanor"

Alvin followed Theodore into a small, messy kitchen where Eleanor was reading a cooking magazine.

She didn't even look up at them as she began speaking, "Hey Teddy, where have you," She spun around and stopped with her mouth agape as she noticed Alvin, "been"

"Eleanor this is Mark Morrison, Mark this is my wife Eleanor," Theodore introduced.

Eleanor blinked a couple of times before she cleared her throat and held out her paw "Well hello Mark, it's nice to meet you. I'm sorry for the mess but we have a memorial tomorrow."

Alvin shook her paw. "It's fine. Theodore told me about your friend. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you" Eleanor murmured quietly. She and Theodore both grew distant for a moment before Eleanor snapped back to reality. "Why don't you have a seat Mark and I'll heat you up some soup?"

Alvin nodded as he took a seat at the table.

Eleanor retrieved a pot of soup from the fridge. "So where are you from Mark?"

"Oregon" Alvin replied.

"What do you do for a living?" Theodore asked as Eleanor placed a bowl of soup into the microwave.

Alvin's smile vanished as he thought back to the horrible night. "I had an accident six years ago, and I really haven't had a job since."

"So you've been unemployed?" Eleanor asked.

"Not really. I've sort of been working as a nanny." Alvin replied with a chuckle.

"A nanny," Theodore repeated with a slight snicker as he sat beside Alvin. Eleanor glared at her husband. "That's a noble profession," He quickly added as he saw his wife's eyes narrowed.

Alvin gave a small smile. "It was alright. I loved the kids I looked after."

The microwave beeped and Eleanor removed the soup. "Careful it's hot," She told Alvin as she set the bowl in front of him.

"Thanks," Alvin said gratefully as he scooped a spoonful of the soup.

Eleanor sat down next to her husband. "So Mark, do you have a place to stay tonight?"

Alvin looked up at them. "Well no, but,"

"Now you do." Eleanor cut him off curtly. She rose to her feet. "I'll go prepare the guest bedroom."

"Eleanor, wait! You don't have to!" Alvin called after her as she walked briskly out of the kitchen.

Theodore chuckled. "Don't even try. Once her mind is set to something, it's set in stone."

* * *

"I hope you find everything you'll need." Eleanor told Alvin as he sat down on the bed.

Alvin ran his hand over the comforter as he drank in the feel of a human room once more. "You've done too much."

"Nonsense! The bathroom is down the hall and breakfast will be ready at 8:00." Eleanor said before she turned to leave.

"El, wait!"

Eleanor turned back. "Yeah Mark?"

"Would you mind if I tagged along with you and your husband tomorrow? I would like to pay my respects to your friend." Alvin said.

Eleanor looked at him for a moment before she nodded. "As my husband would say, 'the more the merrier.' Goodnight Mark."

"Goodnight Eleanor," Alvin said as she left the room.

He laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling thinking about all that happened. He rolled over and pulled two photos out of his bag.

He looked at the one of the children first. He smiled as he looked at their familiar faces. For some reason it hurt him that they were so far away in Oregon while he was here.

Alvin looked at the picture of Brittany next. Her smile always brightened up his day. It had hurt him for years having her so far away. He knew she wasn't too far away, but there was still one nagging thought. Would she remember him?

* * *

"We're here," Theodore said as he pulled into the park's parking lot.

Alvin gazed out of the car window at the park. He saw a couple of familiar faces and a lump grew in his throat. This also happened to be the park where the gazebo was located. Where Brittany told him to die then ran off, leaving Alvin to chase after her and get hit by a car.

"Would you mind helping me with the potato salad Mark?" Eleanor asked.

Alvin nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat.

He followed his brother and sister-in-law up the path to a group of picnic tables with the potato salad.

He spotted a few of his old friends from high school and college, a few people he didn't know, and his brother Simon.

"Hey Si," Theodore greeted as he set down the meat he was carrying.

"Hey Theo, Ellie," Simon said as he hugged his brother and gave his sister-in-law a kiss on the cheek. "How are you guys doing?"

"Aright I guess, you?" Eleanor asked as she began to set up all the food.

Simon's smile widened. "I've been better than I've been in a long time."

Theodore looked at his brother. "You do seem happier than the last time you visited."

Eleanor had a smirk on her face as she looked at Simon knowingly. From the corner of her eye she spotted Alvin watching them. "Oh Simon, have you met Mark?"

"I don't believe I have. How did you know Alvin?" Simon asked as he shook Alvin's paw.

"Uh, I didn't really," Alvin stuttered.

"I met Mark last night. He's just moved here from Oregon so Ellie and I offered him a place to stay. He wanted to come along today to pay his respects to Al." Theodore came to Alvin's rescue.

Alvin nodded. "What he said."

"Well it's nice to meet you Mark. So where did you live in Oregon?" Simon asked.

"Oh God what are you doing here?" A venomous, yet familiar, tone asked before Alvin could answer Simon.

Alvin's eyes widened thinking he was caught but to his surprise Simon answered the voice. "I could ask you the same question."

Alvin turned to see Jeanette heading towards the group. She ignored Alvin, Simon, and Theodore and gave Ellie a hug. "What is he doing here?" Alvin could hear her hiss in Ellie's ear.

"He's Alvin's brother. Of course he's here!" Eleanor responded in a whisper.

"You didn't tell me that!" Jeanette whispered back.

Simon glared at Theodore. "Funny I wasn't notified about your presence either Jeanette."

Jeanette laughed dryly. "Was I speaking to you, you son of a bitch?"

"Well it's hard to tell with you sometimes slut." Simon replied coldly.

"Bastard," Jeanette said.

Before Simon could reply Eleanor grabbed her sister's arm. "Jeanette, would you help me get something out of the car?"

Jeanette didn't have time to answer before Eleanor began dragging her towards her car.

Simon watched them leave with a cold gaze. He turned to Theodore who was glaring at him with his paws on his hips.

"Can't you two get along for one day? This is Alvin's freaking memorial! He wouldn't want you two fighting like this!" Theodore exclaimed.

"You bet I wouldn't." Alvin muttered.

Simon turned to him. "Did you say something?"

"I asked if this is usual." Alvin lied.

"You have no idea! For once I wish that they could get along! You two are always arguing and I'm sick of it!" Theodore yelled.

"We're not that bad." Simon defended.

Theodore's eyebrows rose. "Remember Dave's birthday two years ago? You guys ruined Ellie's pot roast that she worked so hard on."

Simon shrugged. "You have admit though, the micro-waved lasagna wasn't that bad."

Theodore glared at him. "Eleanor was heartbroken."

"See this is why I never come home. You guys always give me a hard time for not coming home. But when I do, she's here!" Simon exclaimed.

"She's Eleanor's sister, my sister-in-law. Of course she's going to be here!" Theodore argued.

"She's my ex-wife! And I freaking hate her!" Simon pointed out.

Theodore sighed. "Simon you know that if she wasn't Ellie's sister I'd hate her too. That's what brothers are for. They always have each other's back. But she is Eleanor's sister. So I kind of have to like her."

Simon chuckled. "You know what Al would say if he was here?"

"What?" Theodore asked.

"He'd say to hate her anyway," Simon told him with a laugh.

Theodore smiled. "He would wouldn't he?"

_"Yeah I probably would," _Alvin thought.

His brothers grew quiet. "You must miss him." Alvin spoke up.

Simon nodded. "Yeah we do."

"So why did you and Jeanette get divorced?" Alvin asked.

"No offense Mark, but I just met you." Simon said as he grabbed a drink.

Eleanor and Jeanette walked back over to the group. "Hey guys we couldn't find anything in the car." Eleanor told them cheerfully.

Jeanette and Simon glared at each other while the others stood there awkwardly.

Simon's phone began ringing. "I have to take this." He said as he answered his phone and walked away from the group.

"I think I left something in my car." Jeanette said as she walked briskly in the other direction from where Simon was heading.

"Poor guy." Theodore said.

Eleanor looked at her husband confused. "Poor guy, he's the one misunderstood."

"Misunderstood what? She's the one who started this whole thing!" Theodore exclaimed.

"I'm not getting into this argument. It's bad enough they're fighting." Eleanor stated.

Theodore wrapped an arm around her waist. "They'll come around eventually Ellie."

"Theo they've been like this for three years. They live on different continents! I don't think they'll ever make up." She told him as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"They've been fighting like this for three years," Alvin repeated.

They both nodded. "Actually they've lightened up a bit." Theodore said.

Alvin nodded. How did things get so sour between his little brother and Jeanette? Six years ago they were happily married. He remembered the night Simon proposed to Jeanette vividly. They both came home so happy. And the day they got married was a wonderful day too. Now, they were cussing each other out like there was no tomorrow.

"You alright Mark?" Eleanor asked concerned.

Alvin nodded. "I'm fine El."

"Don't let the fighting bother you." Theodore told him.

"I won't." Alvin replied. Though as he looked at his brother and his ex-wife he knew it did bother him.

* * *

"Well it was nice meeting you Mark."

"You too Dave." Alvin managed to say without crying before Dave walked over to Theodore and Eleanor.

Alvin was so happy to see Dave again. A part of him never thought he would see his adopted father again but here he was. He wanted nothing more to tell him, his brothers, and everyone else he had talked to who he really was. But he knew he couldn't.

He had talked to everyone who attended, still masquerading as Mark Morrison. A few people wore black clothing, but the majority of the people wore red in honor of him. Of course the one person Alvin wanted to see most was nowhere to be found. Brittany Natalie Miller.

Alvin walked over to where his brother Simon was standing. He was trying to grant Theodore's wishes by staying as far away from Jeanette as possible.

"Hey Si," Alvin greeted.

"Hey Mark." Simon replied.

The two stood in silence watching the crowd around them.

Alvin saw a black limo pull up and nudged Simon.

Simon looked at the limo and a small smile came across his face. "Hey Theo, Ellie; look who decided to come after all."

Theodore and Ellie stopped what they were doing and looked at the limo.

Alvin stared at the limo curiously and out of it stepped his Brittany. His eyes widened and his heart sped up when he saw her again. She was more beautiful then he remembered and to his surprise she was wearing red instead of her signature pink.

"That's Brittany. Jeanette and Eleanor's other sister." Simon whispered to him.

Alvin nodded as he watched Brittany dismiss the limo then turn to the party. She walked up to her youngest sister gracefully, as if it was a red carpet.

"I knew you'd come." Eleanor told her as she flung her arms around her eldest sister.

"I had some spare time." Brittany said as she hugged her sister back.

"Hey Britt." Simon greeted as he made his way towards the chipette with Alvin right behind him.

Brittany looked right past Simon at Alvin. "Who's your friend Si?"

"Mark Morrison." Alvin told her.

"Brittany Miller." Brittany said as she shook his paw.

"Do you want to go for a quick walk?" Alvin asked.

Brittany stared at Alvin for a moment before she nodded. "Sure."

"Let's go then." Alvin said as he offered her his arm.

Brittany accepted his arm and they began walking. She looked back at her sisters who gave her their thumbs up in approval.

* * *

"So where are we going?" Brittany asked.

Alvin shrugged. "You tell me, I don't know this park very well."

"Well there is a gazebo up ahead that is beautiful. You should really see it in the spring time though. That's when all the flowers are in bloom. They're probably dead right now." Brittany told him.

Alvin squeezed her paw. "I bet it's still beautiful."

Brittany looked at Alvin, who she thought was Mark. She had no idea why a stranger was being so nice to her. But she felt there was something familiar about him. The way he laughed, the gleam in his eyes, and his breathing even seemed familiar to her.

Alvin felt so bad about lying to Brittany. She was just like he remembered her, but she was different. Her eyes didn't seem to sparkle as they used to, her smile wasn't as bright, and her laugh seemed to be different somehow too.

She remained quiet as they walked to the gazebo. He released her paw and watched her walk into the gazebo. She rested her arms on the railing and stared at the nature around her.

"Why were your sisters so shocked when you came?" Alvin asked her quietly as he walked into the gazebo and rested his arms beside hers.

Brittany barely shook her head. "It didn't end on good terms between me and the deceased."

Alvin nodded understandingly. "Then why did you come today?"

"I came to see Jeanette and Eleanor. I barely see Jeanette since she moved to Greece." Brittany answered quietly.

Alvin didn't ask about Jeanette moving; he stayed quiet.

Brittany turned to him. "It's hard not seeing them all the time. Do have any siblings?"

"Two brothers." Alvin responded.

"So you must know what I'm talking about. Are you close to them?"

"Not as close as we used to be. As kids we were closer than close. I'm the eldest and my younger brother was always the smart one while my youngest brother was always the sweet and innocent one." Alvin told her.

"What were you known as in your family?" Brittany asked.

Alvin looked into her blue eyes. "I was known as the other one."

Brittany blinked a couple of times as her mouth was agape.

"You okay?" Alvin asked her concerned.

Brittany nodded quickly. "Oh yeah I'm fine."

"You want to go get something to eat then? I hear your sister is a great cook."

She nodded again with at distance look in her eyes. "Yeah she is."

They walked back to their family; Brittany staring at Alvin the whole time.

Alvin reached for a plate when Brittany spoke up, "You think you're fooling everyone don't you?"

He turned to her confused. "What?"

"You think you're fooling everyone, but you aren't fooling me." Brittany told him, her voice shaky.

Everyone began to gather around seeing what all the fuss was about.

Alvin set his plate back down slowly. "Are you alright Brittany?"

She just shook her head at him. "You little son of a…"

"Brittany, don't talk to Mark like that." Eleanor told her sister.

Brittany looked at her youngest sister and laughed dryly. "Is he honestly fooling all of you?" She asked everyone before she turned back to Alvin. "Tell them." She demanded.

Alvin remained standing silently. Tears were streaming down Brittany's face-ruining her makeup as she pushed Alvin to the ground. He landed on his back with Brittany still crying as she shouted, "Tell them Alvin!"


	6. Love Burned To The Ground

**A/N: **Hey everyone! I managed to type this up on my grandmother's computer today. So in case this is the last update before then, Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Year! Happy Holidays! Ever realize there's a ton of happys but one one merry?

* * *

Silence swept through the Seville family and their friends as they gazed at the chipmunk lying on the grass.

Brittany glared at Alvin for a couple more minutes before she shook her head and began running away from everyone; tears still running down her face.

Alvin wanted to go after her. He wanted to stop her and hold her close in his arms. He wanted to allow her to cry on his shoulder. He wanted to tell her what really happened six years ago. He wanted to tell her he loved her; maybe even hear it from her too.

But he didn't. He froze. Staying perfectly still as his eyes flickered to the faces of his friends and families. Different emotions were on each of their faces. Some were sad, some were happy, some were mad, and many were confused.

Theodore was the first one to move. He hovered over Alvin staring into his eldest brother's blue eyes.

Alvin was unsure about what Theodore would do. His youngest brother wasn't one for violence but Alvin wouldn't be surprised if that changed today.

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours-but was really only a few minutes- before Theodore held out a paw.

Alvin hesitantly grabbed his brother's paw in his own and Theodore pulled him to his feet. "Go get her Al."

"What?" Alvin asked surprised.

"She's been such a diva since you left." Eleanor told him.

"You can explain everything to us later. Just go get the love of your life." Simon said.

Alvin smiled at them all before he turned around and took off running after Brittany. "Britt!"

He ran as fast as he could; looking for the auburn haired chipette in pink clad. He finally spotted her walking down the street as fast as she could.

"Brittany Natalie Miller!" He yelled.

She stopped and turned to look who was calling her name. As soon as she saw it was Alvin she continued walking.

"Britt, wait!" He called.

He continued to run as Brittany was power walking until he finally caught up with her. "I can explain."

Brittany stopped and turned to him. "Explain what?"

"What really happened that night with Alicia," Alvin said quickly.

She rolled her eyes. "What's there to explain? You kissed her Alvin. I saw the picture."

"We were set up Britt. Alicia kissed me and someone snapped a picture!" Alvin told her.

Brittany shook her head. "June sent me that picture."

"You mean June Jenkins? Alicia's best friend. The girl who's hated you ever since you beat her in that talent show years ago. The girl who would probably want nothing more than to see you suffer!" Alvin exclaimed.

Brittany pursed her lips. "She didn't do this to get revenge on me Alvin. She did it because she felt sorry for me since my boyfriend was cheating on me!"

Alvin grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes. "Brittany, why would I kiss Alicia when I already had the greatest girl in the world by my side?" She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but his hold was too strong. "Look me in the eyes Britt. Am I lying to you?"

A limo pulled up beside them and Brittany freed herself. "I meant what I said six years ago. If you really loved me, you would've died!"

She opened the door to the limo. "Home, and step on it." She ordered the driver before she slammed the car door behind her; leaving Alvin standing on the street corner all alone.

* * *

Alvin stopped and looked at where his family and friends were gathered for his memorial. Everyone besides his brothers, Dave, and Eleanor had already left.

Eleanor was the first to notice he returned. "Where's Brittany?"

"She ran off again." Alvin sighed as he lowered his head.

He slowly raised it to find his brothers, Eleanor, and Dave staring at him. "What?"

"You've been gone for six years and you lied to us. So you just expect us to act like everything is okay?" Simon asked.

"Well what do you what me say?" Alvin asked.

"Where you've been would be a great start." Eleanor said as she began packing up some of the food.

Alvin scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I've been in Oregon. A chipmunk rescued me and took me back to his home. He died shortly after. His wife nursed me back to health and in exchange I became her nanny. Even though I'm not completely as well as I used to be, she decided it was time I came back before the kids became too attached. So here I am."

Before Simon could retort Dave stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his eldest son. "Well I for one am so glad you are back."

Alvin felt safe in his father's arms. He hugged his father back tightly. Alvin released Dave. Barely two seconds after he let go of Dave, had Theodore hugged him tightly. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"You thought I was dead. I thought it'd be easier to just say I was Mark instead of facing you guys as Alvin." Alvin murmured.

Theodore smiled cheerfully. "Why would it be hard? I'm thrilled you're okay! I was so worried when your body disappeared and sad when Brittany told us you were dead."

"Brittany told you guys I was dead." Alvin repeated, "What's up with her?"

Eleanor looked up at him. "After you left she threw herself into her career. Her personality has changed too. That girl who I'm guessing left in some limo isn't the big sister who's been there for me most of the time. That girl isn't the Brittany you fell in love with either. That's just some diva in her skin."

"Six years is a long time." Alvin muttered. "Where's Jeanette?"

"She left thankfully." Simon said. His phone began ringing once more. "I'll be right back."

He began walking away and Alvin turned to Theodore and Eleanor. "What happened between Jeanette and Si? They were happy the last I remember."

"It started not too long after you left." Theodore began. "They started having fights. We didn't take much of it but then," he paused before he continued in a strained voice, "they ruined Ellie's special day."

"It wasn't that big of deal Teddy." Eleanor said quietly.

"Yes it was!" Theodore insisted. "It was supposed to be the happiest day of your life and they ruined it! They ruined our wedding!"

Eleanor shook her head. "It doesn't matter. That day is still the happiest day of my life because I married you."

"What happened after the wedding?" Alvin asked.

"The fights became more violent. El and I agreed to stay out of them because we knew if we got involved it would ruin our relationship." Theodore said.

Eleanor interrupted her husband. "Theo and I went on our honeymoon in Italy and when we returned there were Jeanette and Simon waiting for us. They hugged us and were acting like they just got engaged."

Alvin was confused. "Just like that?"

She nodded. "Yep. They were holding hands and chatting nonstop. When we asked what happened Jeanette pulled out a sonogram photo."

"She was pregnant? I'm an uncle? This is great!"

"I wish it were." Dave said quietly with a distant gaze.

Alvin noticed his family still looked upset. "What happened?"

"Well everything was fine and running smoothly…but then um…it kind of slipped out…um," Theodore stammered.

"The kid wasn't Simon's." Eleanor cut him off.

Alvin was dead silent. Theodore and Eleanor looked at their feet while Dave was shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably.

"What happened to the kid?" Alvin finally asked.

Theodore shrugged. "No one knows. Simon took a job up in New York to get away from things. I got a job in Napa so Ellie and I left LA soon after. We tried to talk to Jeanette often but she would only pick up occasionally. Simon, on the other hand, called her almost every night trying to apologize and tell her that he loved her but she wouldn't pick up. He eventually came to the decision to go see her right before her due date. When he got there she wasn't pregnant; the kid was no where in sight. When he questioned her what had happened; she just handed him some divorce papers and told him to sign. He moved up to New York as soon as everything was finalized. We see him a couple times a year now."

Alvin nodded. His family is so messed up.

"What the heck happened to you guys?" Simon asked as he walked back over to the group.

"We've been reminiscing about the past." Dave said with a small smile. "Who was on the phone?"

"Denise. She's going to be here any second." Simon said as he nervously looked around.

Eleanor's eyebrows rose. "The famous Denise Hannah? I didn't know she was coming today."

"I left you guys a message." Simon stated.

"I never received any mess," She stopped when she saw the guilty look on her husband's face.

He chuckled nervously. "Whoops."

"Who's Denise?" Alvin asked with a grin.

Eleanor looked at Simon with a playful smirk. "She's a girl who has been living with Simon for about two years now."

"Not just any girl, the so called love of Simon's life." Theodore taunted.

"I remember when he used to talk like that about my sister." Eleanor said.

Simon glared at them. "Guys I really like Denise. She's different than Jeanette. I know if you guys give her a chance, you'll like her too."

His brothers and his sister-in-law exchanged glances. "We'll try for you Si." Theodore finally said.

"Thanks."

Dave smiled at his sons. "I better get going. I was only able to get a part of the day off today."

"Don't you want to meet Denise?" Eleanor asked as she glanced back at him.

He shook his head. "I already met her when I was in New York. She seems like a very nice girl. But that is just my opinion."

Dave said goodbye to Theodore, Eleanor, and Simon-giving them both brief hugs and Eleanor a peck on the cheek-before turning to Alvin. "You don't know how happy I am that you're not dead and your remains weren't taken by forest creatures."

"Technically a forest chipmunk did save my life." Alvin replied.

Dave shook his head as he hugged his eldest son close. "Be careful."

"I will." Alvin promised.

Dave reluctantly let go and slowly left.

"Here she comes!" Simon suddenly hissed as a chipette headed in their direction. He walked up to meet her and gave her a peck on the cheek. She began walking over to his family but Simon stopped her. She looked confused as he told her something and then she nodded in understanding before they began walking back to the Sevilles.

"Everyone this is Denise." Simon introduced as he wrapped his arm around the petite red head.

"Hi." She greeted with an awkward wave, "You must be Theodore, Eleanor, and Alvin back from the dead."

"It's nice to finally meet you. Whenever we talk to Simon he never shuts up about you." Eleanor told her with a smirk.

Simon glared at her. "Thank you Eleanor."

Denise laughed. "Well he talks a lot about you guys too."

"Aw Si, we're touched." Eleanor said with a smirk.

Alvin chuckled as his brother glared at their sister-in-law.

"Do you guys want something to eat or drink? We still have a lot of food left over." Theodore said.

"That sounds wonderful. I haven't eaten anything today." Denise said.

Alvin watched as Theodore and Eleanor began to pull the food back out as they chatted with Simon and Denise.

He stood there watching his family for a couple of minutes before he spoke up. "Hey El, could you give me Britt's number?"

Eleanor looked over at Alvin and smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

Brittany unlocked the door to her apartment and walked in. She threw her purse onto the nearest chair and pressed the button on her answering machine on her way to the kitchen.

"Two new messages. First message," An automotive voice announced.

"Brittany, baby, I need you in work tomorrow six A.M sharp for the new shoot. You'll shine babe." A man's voice said.

Brittany rolled her eyes as she grabbed a carton of left over Chinese food from her fridge.

"Hey Britt, it's Al." Alvin's voice said over her machine. "I know you obviously don't want to talk to me since you ran away earlier but you need to hear me out. I got to go right now but I will get you to listen to what really happened."

She closed the fridge door with her hip as she listened to the message.

"I missed you Britt, and I love you." Alvin continued after a moment before he hung up.

Brittany set the takeout on the counter before she walked into her bedroom. She slipped off her shoes before she collapsed on her bed.

After a couple of minutes she rolled onto her back.

"_Maybe you should listen to him. Maybe you should just give him the chance. He claims he still loves you. And deep down inside you know you still love him too." A nagging voice in her said._

Brittany snuggled under the covers. She knew her mind was right. The only thing was, would she admit it?


	7. Gone, But Never Forgotten

**A/N: **I know you don't want to hear any excuses about why I haven't updated this story in awhile so I'll get to the point. This is the next chapter of NSN. It's a filler chapter I'm afraid but it's still the next chapter. Thank you for all the incredible reviews. You guys rock! Please R&R!

**Five days after Alvin left the Morrison household...**

* * *

Rosie opened her eyes as the sun's first rays streamed through her window.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up in her bed. She glanced around her room before she jumped out of bed and ran to Alvin's room.

"Good morning Al," She stooped when she saw the neat room and the empty, made up bed. "vin." She finished sadly.

Rosie walked around his room as she remembered all the times she and her brothers had nightmares and Alvin let her sleep with him, all the stories he told about his adventures and past, and he would occasionally sing to them.

She wiped her eyes of the tears that were forming in her eyes before she left Alvin's old room and headed down the stairs.

The dark, empty kitchen greeted her when she reached the bottom. She silently moved around the kitchen preparing a pot of tea. Technically she wasn't supposed to cook without a grown up around but she though tea was an exception.

She sat down at the table with a cup of tea and drank it as she waited for her family to get up in silence.

"Good morning Rosie." Ben and Jamie greeted as they walked down the steps into the kitchen.

"Good morning guys." Rosie greeted from her spot alone at the kitchen table.

"Where's breakfast?" Jamie asked as he sat down at the table.

"I'm not allowed to cook without parent supervision." Rosie reminded him. "I'm letting Mom sleep in since she was coughing and not feeling well yesterday. It's been hard on her since Alvin left. And of course since Alvin left, Mom is the only parent supervision left."

Ben laughed as he poured a brown liquid into a cup. "I don't think Alvin counts as parent supervision."

Jamie looked at his brother's cup. "Hey Ben is that birch bark tea?"

"Yes." Ben replied.

"Can you get me some?" Jamie asked.

"You have two paws, get it yourself." Ben told him as he sat down beside his siblings.

Jamie pulled Alvin's cap over his eyes. "I'm good." He muttered.

"Go ahead and wake Mom up, Rosie. We're going to have to eat soon." Ben said.

"I'll go." Rosie said as she slid off her chair and walked slowly out of the kitchen, through the living room, and stopped at the curtain that led into her mother's bedroom.

She pushed the curtain aside and peeked inside. "Mom, are you up."

When her mother made no sound in response Rosie walked to her bed. She shook her mother gently. "Mother wake up. We need to cook breakfast."

Rosie was growing scared. Her mother made no noise and she didn't move. She leaned her ear to her mother's chest and heard nothing.

She panicked. She ran out of her mother's room and didn't stop until she reached the kitchen.

"Jamie, do you want to play chess with me?" Ben asked his little brother.

"You have two paws, play it yourself." Jamie told him as he poured himself a cup of birch bark tea.

"Guys something is wrong with Mom." Rosie told them with a shaky voice.

Ben and Jamie didn't need to hear anything else. They raced out of the kitchen and into their mother's bedroom with their little sister close behind.

Ben came to a complete stop when he saw the state of his mother. "We need to go get Mrs. Baker."

Rosie nodded as tears filled her eyes but Jamie on the other hand was already heading out of the room.

His siblings quickly followed him dashing to the elderly chipette's tree.

"Mrs. Baker! Mrs. Baker!" They yelled as they banged their paws against the door.

"I'm coming." A voice called. The kids stepped back and waited a few moments before the door opened and Mrs. Baker steeped out onto the porch. "Hello kids, what's all this fuss about?"

The kids all began yelling at once.

"On at a time!" Mrs. Baker exclaimed.

"It's mom!" They all exclaimed in unison.

"Clara," Mrs. Baker whispered before she rushed over to the house with the children behind her.

She ran straight to Clara's room to see the lifeless chipette lying in the bed. "Oh no, not Clara."

"Is she okay?" Rosie asked in a small voice.

"Go wait outside children." Mrs. Baker ordered. "I'll call for help."

* * *

It took a while for people Mrs. Baker called to find the trees where the chipmunks but they eventually figured it out.

The Morrison children all sat on the steps leading to the door of their tree in their pajamas, as they watched the medics carry their dead mother away.

Mrs. Baker watched them from her window of her tree.

Another car pulled up and a man stepped out.

He stopped one of the medics. "I'm Mr. Gray with social services. Where are the children?"

The medic pointed to where Ben and Jamie were trying to comfort their crying, little sister.

Mrs. Baker finally stepped out of her tree as she saw Mr. Gray walk over to the children.

"Are you Benjamin, Jameson, and Rosalinda?" He asked.

"You're from social services, aren't you?" Ben asked.

Mr. Gray nodded. "Yes I am."

Rosie clung to her eldest brother as Jamie stood up to face the strange man. "You can't separate us. I won't let you."

"What?" Mr. Gray asked confused.

"I lost my father when I was two." He held up two fingers. "Recently, I lost the closest thing I had a father, and this morning I lost my mother. I won't let you take away my brother and sister too. Not when we need each other more than anything. I won't let you. I won't."

Before Mr. Gray could respond Mrs. Baker spoke up from her porch. "Excuse me, Mr. Gray. A word please."

Mr. Gray walked over to where she was standing. "Who are you?"

"My name is Mrs. Baker. Clara was a close friend of mine and my husband was her lawyer before both of them passed away." Mrs. Baker informed him as she handed him a manila folder.

"What's this?" He asked as he accepted the folder.

"The Morrison file. You'll find Clara's will in there along with other legal documents." Mrs. Baker said before she took a seat in her rocking chair.

Mr. Gray flipped through the file. "According to this she leaves everything to her children and the custody of her children to an Alvin Seville." He glanced up at her. "Where can I find this Alvin Seville?"

"He just left for Los Angeles."

Mr. Gray muttered something under his breath before he shut the file and stormed over to the children. "Get in the car."

The children stayed where they were.

Mrs. Baker rolled her eyes before she went to help Mr. Gray.

"Listen to him children." Mrs. Baker ordered.

"He wants to take us away and separate us, Mrs. B." Jamie blurted out. She raised an eyebrow and he corrected himself, "Mrs. Baker."

"He's taking you to Alvin." Mrs. Baker told them. "Your mother left you kids in his care in her will."

Rosie stopped crying and sniffled. "So Alvin's adopting us?"

"It depends on him really." Mr. Gray answered.

"And if he does not then Mr. Gray here or someone else, god forbid, would find you a nice home." Mrs. Baker added.

"Alvin would never let us go into the system." Ben replied.

The kids all smiled. "Go get your clothes on and pack a bag. You'll be going to L.A soon." Mrs. Baker told them.

The kids scrambled to their feet as they ran back inside the house leaving Mr. Gray and Mrs. Baker alone. "You're welcome." She told him with a smirk.

* * *

Soon the kids were dressed and had their bags packed, ready to go find Alvin.

Rosie almost threw a fit when Mr. Gray told her to get in the car, something she had never gotten into or fully understood, but her brothers finally convinced her to get in so they could go see Alvin again.

"Goodbye children, never forget where you came from." Mrs. Baker told them as she hugged them goodbye.

"We could never forget any of this." Ben told her.

She smiled as she let them go and climb into the back of Mr. Gray's car.

"So what does this Alvin guy look like?" Mr. Gray asked.

"He's a chipmunk with blue eyes and most likely wearing red," Mrs. Baker replied. "but the children will be able to tell you who he is."

Mr. Gray opened the door to the driver's side. He was about to get in when he turned to Mrs. Baker. "Who is this Alvin Seville exactly?"

To his question Mrs. Baker smiled. "He's the nanny of course."


	8. The Loves Of A Munk

"Good morning Ellie." Alvin greeted as he walked into the kitchen where Eleanor was folding the laundry.

Over the next few days, Alvin still stayed with Theodore and Eleanor while he tried to find a place of his own. He never stopped trying to get Brittany to talk with him but she wouldn't pick up her phone and there was now a huge security guard outside of her apartment.

"Good morning Alvin. Do you want some breakfast?" Eleanor asked.

"I'm fine." Alvin told her.

"How about some coffee?"

"I'm fine El, really." He insisted.

Eleanor nodded before she went back to doing the laundry.

"Here, let me help you." Alvin said grabbing a towel and began folding it.

She watched him fold the towel neatly and place it on the table before he grabbed a shirt. He looked up to see her staring. "Is everything okay El?"

"Since when can you do laundry?" His sister-in-law blurted out.

Alvin chuckled. "Ever since I was hired as a nanny for a single mother and her three children."

"Oh…yeah….I honestly forgot about the whole nanny thing." Eleanor admitted.

Alvin smiled. "If it makes you feel better I'm finding a new job."

"Thank god." Theodore said as he joined them. Eleanor glared at him and he chuckled nervously. "I mean no offence to other male nannies, but you as a nanny is kind of weird."

His older brother nodded in agreement. "It was either that or be in pain forever."

Theodore poured himself a cup of coffee as Alvin and Eleanor continued to do laundry.

"Hey El, do you know where Jeanette's staying?" Alvin finally asked.

Eleanor nodded. "I believe she's staying at a hotel downtown. She wrote it down for me somewhere."

Theodore paused and looked up at his brother. "Alvin, what are you planning?"

Alvin shrugged. "I just want to talk to her."

"If you want to talk about what happened with Si, good luck." Eleanor told him.

Alvin let out an exasperated sigh. "Were they really that bad?"

"She threw a glass beer bottle at him." She retorted.

"He's lucky he only escaped with a small scar." Theodore muttered.

Eleanor nodded in agreement as Alvin shook his head. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Ever since you supposedly died our family has gotten screwed up even more."

"Really, I haven't noticed." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

* * *

"I'm coming!" Alvin heard a female voice announce after he knocked on the hotel room door.

He kept his gaze on his feet until the door opened. His head snapped up to meet the emerald green-eyed gaze of Jeanette Miller.

"Oh it's you." She said in a monotone voice.

"Hey Netta," He greeted.

His ex-sister-in-law glared at him for another second before she began closing the door.

Reacting quickly, Alvin stopped the door from closing with his feet. "C'mon Jeanette, let me in."

"Why should I?" She questioned from the other side of the door.

"I just want to talk like old times." He insisted.

Alvin heard her grumble something he couldn't make out as she opened the door and gestured for him to come inside.

"So what's new with you?" Alvin asked as he stepped into the small hotel room.

Jeanette sat on the bed with her laptop. "Not as much as you. I mean coming back from the dead is a pretty big thing."

"I guess." Alvin said as he sat down in a chair.

She sighed and looked up at Alvin. "Alright Al, we both know you aren't here for small talk, so what do you want?"

"Why did you cheat on my brother?" He asked quietly.

"I'm not talking about that." Jeanette snapped.

"I just want to know why you slept with some random guy and got pregnant when you were married to my little brother." Alvin demanded.

"It wasn't some random guy!" Jeanette shouted.

Alvin could tell Jeanette regretted saying those words as soon as they left her lips.

"Who was it?" He asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

She avoided his gaze as she answered. "Paul McGee."

Alvin's eyes grew wide. Paul McGee had been Simon's best friend ever since the two met at some nerd camp when they were kids. "You slept with Simon's best friend!"

"I'm not proud of it." Jeanette said with tears beginning to form in her emerald green eyes as she typed furiously on her keyboard.

"Why on earth did you sleep with Paul?"

She stopped typing and paused as more tears formed in her eyes. It took a while before she began explaining things in a strained voice. "My marriage was going down the toilet. One day didn't pass where Simon and I didn't scream our heads off at each other, or curse each other out, or throw things. It was awful. I actually felt like my life was crap. I just wanted to feel like I was loved for one day."

"And Paul made you feel loved." Alvin asked surprised.

"No but he listened to me and was so sweet. I was also partly drunk though." She said. "One thing led to another and we woke up at his place. We promised each other we'd never tell Simon since I decided to try to work things out."

She was sobbing and couldn't continue.

Alvin moved her laptop and sat beside her. He wrapped an arm around Jeanette as she leaned against him.

"How did Simon find out?"

"As a joke Simon put a card in Paul's wallet that said to call Simon if anyone found Paul drunk." Jeanette began.

"But Paul never gets drunk." Alvin said cutting her off.

"He enjoys the occasional beer but when he lost his job he became wasted one night. The bartender called Simon and asked him to pick Paul up. He was so drunk he let the secret slip to Simon. The next day he packed everything up and left for New York."

"Simon thought the kid was his right?"

She nodded. "Paul and I didn't want to hurt Simon. So I told him the baby was his." Jeanette wiped her eyes before she asked, "So what's she like?"

"Who?" Alvin asked.

"Simon's new girlfriend. Isn't her name Hannah?" She questioned.

"Denise Hannah actually." He corrected. "She's alright I guess."

"How serious are they?" Jeanette asked.

"Pretty serious in my opinion."

She sighed. "That's what Paul said."

Alvin's eyebrows rose. "You still talk to Paul."

Jeanette nodded. "We still talk."

"That's just weird."

"Simon forgave him."

"You better be kidding me." Alvin said.

"Nope, they're friends again."

Alvin was quiet for a couple of minutes. "Then why haven't you and Simon made up?"

"Why haven't you and Brittany made up?" Jeanette snapped back.

"Hey in my defense Britt won't even speak to me." Alvin defended himself.

"At least that's better than cursing each other out every time you talk." Jeanette pointed out.

He nodded. "True."

"Seriously Al, Brittany will come around. You two are meant for each other. And that's coming from someone who's given up on love." She said in a defeated tone.

"You can't give up on love Netta." He protested.

"Too late Al. I gave up on love years ago." She told him.

He was about to protest once more when she stopped him. "I better get back to work."

"What do you do?" Alvin asked.

A small smile came across Jeanette's face. "I work in an international school in Greece. What about you?"

"I'm a nanny." Alvin told her.

Jeanette quickly covered her mouth to prevent herself from bursting out in laughter. "I'm sorry, that's not funny."

Alvin stood up. "You can laugh once I'm out of here."

He gave her one last hug before he walked to the door.

"Alvin," He turned back to face his ex-sister-in-law. "Don't worry about my sister. Brittany will come around eventually."

"I hope so Netta. I really hope so."

* * *

"Where are we?" Rosie asked curiously as she sat on a park bench with her two brothers and Mr. Gray.

Mr. Gray clenched his jaw, trying his best not to snap at the little chipette. "For the fifteenth time we are in L.A."

"Technically it's only the eighth." Ben reminded him.

The social security worker gave the bespectacled chipmunk a glare as Jamie groaned. "Where's Alvin? I thought you were taking us to him."

Mr. Gray took a deep breath before he calmly replied, "We're trying to find him."

"Why haven't we yet?" Rosie asked.

"Because L.A happens to be a very large city."

Ben rested his head on the back of the bench. "You might want to rethink this ingenious plan."

Mr. Gray let out a frustrated breath. He was definitely finding a new job after this. He spotted an ice cream stand not too far away and smiled. Every kid shuts up when they have ice cream, right?

"I'll be right back." He told the children before he walked over to the ice cream stand.

As he stood in line he pulled put his phone and dialed a number. "Hello," The voice on the other end answered.

"Hey Matt it's me. Did you find anything?" Mr. Gray asked urgently.

"Yeah that Simon Seville guy lives in an apartment in New York with a chipette named Denise Hannah." Matt said.

Mr. Gray shook his head forgetting his friend couldn't see him. "No his fiancée or wife's name is Jeanette Miller. I told you this."

"Yeah I found her too. She lives in Greece."

"You better be kidding me." Mr. Gray growled.

"Nope. And guess what else I found."

"I really don't want to." Mr. Gray replied impatiently.

"Fine ya party pooper. According to what I found, Alvin Seville has been dead for six years."

Mr. Gray's eyes grew wide. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah but it's probably a different Seville. I mean this one was a rock star."

"Call me when you find something useful." Mr. Gray snapped before he hung up.

"Can I have three lemons?" He asked the person running the stand.

She nodded and handed him the ice cream in exchanged for money.

"Here you kids go." He said as he handed them the ice cream.

The three children accepted the frozen treat.

"What is it?" Jamie asked his siblings softly.

Ben poked it with his finger. "It feels like snow." He whispered back.

Mr. Gray ignored their whispers as his phone began buzzing. He picked it up and walked away from the children. "Hey Matt, what did you find out?"

"Sorry wrong number." Matt chuckled nervously.

Mr. Gray snapped the phone shut and walked back over to the children to see their ice cream on the ground. "Why did you throw your treat on the ground?"

Rosie looked up at him innocently. "Didn't your parents ever teach you never to eat yellow snow?"

* * *

Alvin sat down at the counter of the local deli. He had promised Eleanor he would meet her here for lunch after he talked to Jeanette.

"I just don't see why you're still with Simon." He heard a chipette's voice say rather loudly.

When he heard his little brother's name he looked behind his shoulder to see Simon's girlfriend Denise sitting at a table with another chipette.

"I love him. It's not that complicated." Denise told her companion.

Alvin slid off of his stool and walked over to their table. "Hey Denise."

The redhead looked up at him and her face split into a smile. "Hey Alvin, I didn't think I'd run into you here."

He returned the smile. "I didn't think I'd see you either."

"SO what exactly are you doing here?" She asked curiously.

"I'm meeting Eleanor for lunch." He replied leaving out the bit about sharing his recent conversation with Jeanette.

"A-hem." The chipette sitting across the table glared at Denise.

"Oh right, Alvin this is my sister Lana Hannah. Lana this is Simon's older brother Alvin Seville." Denise introduced them.

"The brother back from the dead?" Lana asked.

Denise nodded while Alvin tried not to laugh at her name. "Yeah that's me. It's nice to meet you Lana Hannah."

Lana looked exactly like her sister. They both had the same red hair, brown eyes, and were both very skinny. The only difference was Lana was a couple inches taller than Denise.

She gave him an amused smile. "I know my name is hilarious. Feel free to laugh at it anytime." A phone suddenly started buzzing and Lana grabbed it from her bag. "I have to go. Dan and Tyler need me."

"Who?" Alvin asked.

"Dan is my husband and Tyler is our one year old son." Lana explained.

He nodded as she stood up and hugged Denise goodbye. "Call me when your relationship with Simon goes down the toilet."

"It won't. I have a good feeling about him." Denise replied with a smile.

"I just worry about you Denny." Lana told her little sister before she released her from the hug.

"You don't have to." Denise insisted.

Lana gave her sister one last hug and said goodbye to Alvin before she left.

"You want to sit down until Eleanor arrives?" Denise asked him gesturing to the seat across from her.

"Sure." Alvin said as he sat in the seat Lana once occupied. "So how did you meet my brother?"

"Mutual friends introduced us. They knew we were both going through the same thing and thought we could help each other." Denise said.

Alvin looked at her confused. She sighed. "We were both in sucky marriages that were headed right for the garbage shoot."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Yep, his wife got knocked up by someone else and refused to speak to him while my marriage," She paused for a moment and shook her head before she continued, "well my marriage sucked too. It was your brother who convinced me to leave my husband actually. In return, I convinced him to forgive Jeanette. Then she ended up stabbing his heart so he wasn't too happy with me."

"When did you get together then?"

Denise laughed. "We actually just hung out for the longest time. Then we realized we were meant to be more than friends when we were pretty much living together."

Silence passed between the two until Denise broke it. "So what's she like?"

"Who?" He asked.

"Jeanette, Simon told me you were friends when you were younger." She explained.

Alvin paused. Didn't Jeanette ask him that same question about Denise not too long ago? "She's okay."

Denise nodded. "That's better than some of the things I've heard."

"What have you heard?" He questioned.

"Simon and I were having dinner, as friends, when Jeanette called Simon by accident. I've never heard anyone curse as much as they did during that conversation. And it only lasted two minutes before Simon hung up on her." She said.

He let out a sigh as he ran his paw through his hair. "What's going on between them is just ridiculous."

"Yeah it's been really hard on Si." Denise agreed.

"Thanks by the way." Alvin told her after a couple moments of silence.

She looked up at him confused. "For what?"

"For taking care of my brother, I've always looked after him and I thought while I was gone Jeanette would take care of him. But that ended up going down the toilet. I'm just glad he had you looking out for him." He explained.

Denise smiled as she placed her paw on his. "Your little brother took care of me just as much as I did for him."

* * *

"I just don't see why it would happen." Alvin said to his brother Simon as they walked back from the grocery store to their other brother's, Theodore's, house.

"Just let it go Al." Simon said annoyed.

"It's not humane Si." Alvin protested.

"You know I seriously thought you were finally mature." His younger brother exclaimed.

"I'm just asking who would be stupid enough to put peanut butter and jelly in the same jar!" Alvin replied as he pulled a jar of "jelly butter" as it was called, from a grocery bag.

"Quick question," Simon began, "if you think it's so ridiculous then why did you buy it?"

Alvin shrugged. "I wanted to see what it tastes like."

Simon shook his head. "And someone actually trusted you to take care of their kids."

His older brother only shrugged in response.

"Hey Al, can I ask you something?" Simon asked, breaking the silence that had passed between them.

"Sure Si, what's on your mind?"

"What do you think of Denise?"

Alvin inwardly groaned. How many times would he be asked that question about a chipette today? "I think she's…" he trailed off as he saw someone he didn't expect to see. "Rosie?"

But there she was. Her hair in its usual pigtails and she was wearing her green dress with her sandals. She was holding the doll Clara had made her close to her chest as she looked around looking scared and confused.

"You think Denise is rosy?" Simon clarified.

Alvin ignored his brother as he began running towards the little chipette. "Rosie!"

The chipette wiped around and her face turned into a grin when she saw Alvin. "Alvin!"

She ran as fast as she could towards him. He picked her up and held her close to his chest. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"We came to find you." She told him.

"We?" He questioned.

"Dad!"

Alvin looked to see Jamie running towards him. He placed Rosie back on the ground just in time for Jamie to run into his arms.

"I thought we would never find you." He whispered.

"I'm here." Alvin promised.

"Alvin!"

He looked up one last time to see Ben rushing towards him. He opened his arms wider so he could hug Ben and Jamie at the same time.

"I missed you Dad." Ben said quietly.

"I missed you too Ben." Alvin replied.

Rosie pushed her way between her brothers so she was in the hug too.

"Alvin, who are these kids?" Simon asked when he finally caught up with his brother.

Alvin released the children and looked up at his brother. "Simon, these are the kids I used to take care of. The one with the glasses is Ben, the one wearing my old cap is Jamie, and the little chipette is Rosie."

"You must be Simon, Alvin has told us a lot about you." Ben said as he extended a paw.

Simon shook the little boy's paw. "He has?"

Jamie nodded. "Yeah it's hard to get him to shut up about his past."

Ben spotted Mr. Gray heading towards them and nudged Jamie with his elbow. "Here comes Mr. Sunshine."

"There you are you little rodents!" Mr. Gray yelled as he began power walking towards them.

Alvin picked Rosie up and balanced her on his hip as the two boys stood on either side of him and Simon stood behind him.

"Who are you?" Mr. Gray asked Alvin.

"I'm Alvin, Alvin Seville. And you are?" Alvin asked bitterly as Rosie buried her face in the crook of his neck.

Mr. Gray let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god I found you. I'm Mr. Gray, the Morrison children's social worker."

"Social worker?" Alvin asked confused.

"Mrs. Baker told me I could find you here. She gave me Clara Morrison's will and in it she left the children in your care." Mr. Gray explained.

Alvin tried not to drop Rosie in shock. "Clara's dead."

Mr. Gray nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss," Alvin had a feeling he didn't mean it, "but I need to know if you're going to adopt the children. If not then we can find other arrangements but,"

"I'll do it." Alvin cut him off.

The kids all smiled as they cheered.

"Alvin," Simon hissed, "are you serious? You can't take care of them!"

"I have to Si." Alvin told him. "I'm not letting them live in this world alone."

* * *

"So what do I need to do?" Alvin asked Mr. Gray.

"Just fill out these forums and you'll be all set." Mr. Gray said before he left Alvin and Simon all alone.

"I still can't believe you're doing this." Simon said as Alvin began looking through the papers.

"I'm doing this for them Si." Alvin replied, not bothering to look of from the papers.

Silence filled the room as Alvin signed the papers.

"Hey Al, you never answered my question." Simon said.

"About what?" Alvin asked.

"Denise."

Alvin looked up from the papers. "I think she's great, why?"

Simon remained silent for a couple of minutes. Alvin shrugged and went back to the paperwork.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me." His little brother finally spoke up.


	9. It's Up To The Kids

**A/N:**Hey everyone, guess what? I'm officially back on FF! If you're wondering what I'm talking about and thinking I've been here this whole time then just ignore this little notice. Oh and BTWs, I did NOT steal the title from Justin Bieber! My friends keep on accusing me of theft so I just thought I'd mention that. Thank you for all of the incredible reviews and please enjoy chapter nine of Never Say Never!

**Disclaimer (I keep on forgetting to say this): **I do not own Alvin and the Chipmunks. (And apparently I don't own the title of this story either!)

* * *

"Where are we going dad?" Jamie asked Alvin.

Alvin thought the paperwork would never be finished, but it finally was over. He was officially the father of Benjamin, Jameson, and Rosalinda Seville-Morrison. They left as soon as all the papers were in order and were now heading down the street, Alvin holding Rosie's paw as Jamie walked on the other side of him while Simon and Ben trailed behind them.

"We are going to meet your other uncle and his wife." Alvin replied.

"Uncle Theodore and Auntie Ellie?" Rosie questioned as she skipped.

Alvin nodded. "Yep, those are the ones."

"Is there anything you didn't tell them about your past?" Simon asked.

He shook his head. "I think I told them every single detail."

"He went on for like an hour about Miss Brittany's hair once." Ben said.

"It was not like an hour try like five minutes." Alvin protested.

Simon chuckled and smiled at Ben "I can see him doing that."

Alvin shot his brother a glare. "Thanks Si."

The newly reunited family continued to talk and tease Alvin until they reached Theodore and Eleanor's small house.

"Wait here with your Uncle Simon; I'll be back in a minute." Alvin told his children before he walked into the house.

Theodore and Eleanor greeted him from their position on the couch where they were watching the food network.

"Where were you Alvin? I thought you and Simon were going to the store?" Eleanor asked.

He nodded. "We did."

"Since when does it take four hours to go to the grocery store?" Theodore asked.

His older brother chuckled nervously. "Well we did some other stuff too."

"Like what?"

"Jamie give me back Lucy!" Rosie suddenly screamed.

Jamie ran into the room at full speed clutching the doll Clara had made for Rosie for her third birthday. It wasn't even ten seconds before Rosie was racing after him, Ben and Simon right behind her.

Alvin grabbed Jamie before he could run passed him. "Give the doll back to your sister Jameson."

"But dad," Jamie began to protest.

"Now," Alvin ordered.

The boy tossed the doll back to his sister.

Alvin nudged him. "Apologize."

"Sorry Rose. Happy?" Jamie asked Alvin.

"Like you mean it."

Jamie sighed. "I'm sorry Rosie."

Rosie cuddled Lucy close to her. "Apology accepted Jamie. But you still need to apologize to Lucy."

"Do I have to?" Jamie asked Alvin.

Alvin folded his arms across his chest as he nodded.

"You have got to be kidding me!" The chipmunk in red clad exclaimed.

"Just do it so we can get on with our lives." Ben snapped.

Jamie groaned in frustration as Rosie held at the doll in front of him. "I'm sorry Lucy."

Rosie cuddled the doll to her chest once more and nodded. "She forgives you Jamie."

Theodore stared at the kids first. "I'm sorry but who are you kids?"

"I'm Ben; this is my brother Jamie, and our sister Rosie. We're Alvin's kids."

Theodore and Eleanor turned to Alvin shocked.

Simon cleared his throat. "Why don't the kids come outside with me while you guys talk?"

Alvin nodded. "It won't be too long."

"Come on Rose," Ben said as he held out his paw for his little sister. She accepted his paw and they followed their uncle and Jamie outside.

"So you have kids now?" Eleanor asked after they were gone.

Alvin sighed. "Those are the kids I used to take care of when I was a nanny. Their dad died when the little chipette was a couple days old, the one wearing my cap was two, and the one with the glasses was four. I helped their mother, Clara, out in exchange for medical help and then six years later I left to come back here. It turns out a couple days after I left, Clara died of a lung infection. I was all they had left. So earlier today I adopted them. That's why it took us so long at the store."

"Those poor things." Eleanor said sympathetically as she stared at the direction the kids had left with Simon.

"How are you going to take care of them?" Theodore asked.

Alvin shrugged. "I have my savings. Turns out you guys didn't touch them when I supposedly died."

"Wait one second, you actually have savings?" Theodore asked surprised.

* * *

"They're so adorable." Eleanor gushed to Alvin as they watched them from the doorway to the living room. Ben had challenged Simon to chess and had beaten his uncle and every match, while Jamie watched them, and Rosie played with her doll.

Alvin nodded. "Yeah, they are." He took another sip of his beer before he asked, "So are you and Theo thinking about kids."

Eleanor froze, obviously caught off guard by the question. It took her a couple moments before she replied, "We've been considering our options."

Alvin looked at her confused until he heard his son announce, "Checkmate."

Simon shook his head in frustration. "Best three out of five."

Ben shrugged. "Sure, I can always beat you again Uncle Simon."

"Having trouble beating an eight-year old at your favorite game Si?" Eleanor asked amused.

"Shut up Ellie." Simon retorted.

"Ooo, Uncle Simon said the S H word." Rosie said looking up from braiding her doll's hair. "Put him in time out."

"I can't put your uncle in time out. He's a grown boy." Alvin replied and Simon rolled his eyes.

"Hey Dad, can I ask you something?" Ben asked.

Alvin nodded. "Of course kiddo."

"What happened with Brittany? Are you guys back together or is something else happening?"

Jamie and Rosie both looked at their father wanting to know the answer to Ben's question. Simon, Theodore, and Eleanor looked at Alvin wondering how he was going to explain the situation to his kids.

Alvin's gaze flickered between the three before he stood up and clapped his paws. "Time for bed."

"Not until you tell us about Miss Brittany." Jamie argued.

Alvin ran a paw through his hair. "It's complicated."

"What's so complicated about telling us what happened between you and the girl you were going to propose to?" Jamie asked exasperated.

"You were going to propose!" Alvin's brothers and sister-in-law exclaimed.

"Did I forget to mention that?"

They all nodded still in shock. Alvin ignored their looks and quickly turned back to his children. "Alright bedtime. Let's go upstairs."

The three children groaned in protest. Their father gave them a stern look. "Now,"

Ben, Jamie, and Rosie all jumped to their feet and said goodnight to their uncles and aunt before scurrying upstairs.

Simon watched them impressed. "How did you do that?"

Alvin couldn't help but smile. "I learned that trick very early on from their mother. It works like a charm."

* * *

"Goodnight Dad." Ben said as he climbed into the bed beside Rosie. He slipped off his glasses and placed them on the bedside table as Jamie climbed into the bed on the other side of Rosie.

"Why does Rosie get to sleep in the middle?" He complained.

"Because Rosie is six and needs you guys to protect her." Alvin said.

Jamie sighed obviously not happy with the answer. Rosie gave him a smile but he ignored her.

"Night kiddos, sweet dreams." Alvin gave each of his children a peck on the cheek before he walked to the doorway and turned off the lights. He left the room and rejoined the rest of his family downstairs. "Thanks again for letting us stay here." He told his brother and sister-in-law as he collapsed on a chair. "We'll be out of your hair soon."

"You're fine Al." Eleanor insisted.

Simon stood up before Alvin could reply. "I better get going. Denise had lunch with her sister today."

"Doesn't she hate you?" Theodore asked.

Simon nodded. "Yep and now I have to do some damage control."

"Lana doesn't seem that bad." Alvin argued.

"When did you meet Lana?" Simon questioned.

"Earlier today. Actually, it wasn't too long before you dropped the bomb that you're asking Denise to tie the knot." Alvin replied.

"You're proposing!" Theodore and Eleanor both exclaimed at the same time.

Simon shot Alvin an I'm-Going-To-Murder-You-Later glare before he answered, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Simon Oliver Seville, your proposing to your girlfriend and all you have to say is 'Yeah, pretty much?'" Eleanor demanded. A sheepish chuckle escaped Simon's mouth as he looked at the fuming chipette. A smile suddenly lit across Eleanor's face before she wrapped her arms around Simon in a hug. "Congratulations!"

Simon hugged her back, confused. The look remained on his face even after Eleanor released him and he left the house.

"You know I never thought he'd actually commit to a relationship after Jeanette." Eleanor said as she sat back down beside her husband.

Alvin shook his head. "I thought there would only be a relationship with Jeanette."

"Are you still on that?" Theodore groaned. "It's in the past. She cheated, got pregnant, she lied, he left, tried to apologize, and then she divorced him. What part is so hard for you to wrap your head around?"

"The whole they starting fighting and she cheated on him part." Alvin replied. He saw his daughter peeking into the room. He smiled to himself and asked, "What do you need Rosie?"

Theodore and Eleanor both turned to see the chipette walk into the room. "How do you always see me?" She pouted.

"You're a terrible spy." Alvin reminded her. "Now what do you need?"

"Can you tell us a story before we go to bed?" She asked.

Alvin's eyebrows rose. "Us?"

Jamie and Ben both entered the room and stood on either side of their sister. "Yeah us." Ben said.

Their dad rose from his seat and he scooped up Rosie in his arms. "Which story do you want to hear?"

"The one where you went around the world, then what happened with Miss Brittany." Jamie requested as he and Ben followed their father out of the room.

"You know if you would've told the teenage me that my older brother, Alvin Seville, would adopt three kids he used to be a nanny for and be a great dad, I would've laughed in your face." Theodore told his wife as they watched them go.

Eleanor nodded in agreement. "Well we've all changed Teddy."

"True. Last week I shot a bird at Rob's farm. I don't think I could've done that as a teenager."

"Wasn't that his son's stuffed animal?" Eleanor asked.

Theodore turned his attention on the TV and muttered, "Still counts."

* * *

"Where are you dragging us to?" Ben asked his little brother as he led them down the streets of L.A. Rosie was holding on tightly to Ben's paw as they weaved through the crowds of humans.

"Miss Brittany's place." Jamie replied over his shoulder.

"Why?" Rosie asked.

Jamie paused to look around as he answered, "Remember how dad told us the other night Miss Brittany won't talk to him and refuses to see him."

"Yeah,"

"Well we are going to go find out why and get her to forgive him. He's so lost without her." He started walking again towards an apartment building leaving his siblings to hurry after him.

They walked into the apartment building and looked around. "Now what?" Ben asked.

"We use the power of our little sister." Jamie whispered back before he turned to Rosie. "Okay Rose this is your time to shine. You have to ask for the room number for your Aunt Brittany. Say you were separated from your mother and you remembered that your aunt lives here and that you need her help. Got that?"

Rosie nodded before Jamie nudged her towards the receptionist.

"This is never going to work Jamie and I can't believe you would use our little sister like this!" Ben hissed.

"Relax Ben it'll all work out in the end."

Rosie skipped back to them a couple seconds later. "Apartment 24."

Ben stared at her dumbfounded while Jamie hugged her. "Good work little sister. Now c'mon let's go meet Miss Brittany."

* * *

"I thought Dad said there were guards?" Rosie asked when they reached the home of Miss Brittany Miller.

Jamie smiled. "They are currently on their lunch break."

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that." Ben said as Jamie knocked on the door.

"One moment," A voice called and a couple moments later Brittany appeared at the door. "Can I help you?"

Rosie couldn't help but stare at the chipette. Alvin was right when he said she was one of the most beautiful chipettes in the world. She had the most beautiful blue eyes Rosie had ever seen and she was wearing a pink shirt with a pair of jeans. Unlike Rosie's auburn hair, Brittany's was long and in curls.

"Cookies!" Rosie blurted out before her brothers could say anything they had planned.

Brittany raised an eyebrow. "Cookies?"

"That's right," Jamie answered for his sister. "Can we interest you in some cookies on this fine afternoon?"

Ben did a mental face palm as Brittany shook her head. "Sorry, I don't need any cookies."

"Wait!" Jamie exclaimed before Brittany could shut the door. "Do you mind if we call our dad real quick?"

Earlier his Uncle Theodore kept on talking about how he needed to call his dad. Jamie had no idea what he meant but it was worth a try to get Brittany to talk to them.

Brittany gave them a curious look. "Alright but make it quick."

"You know Alvin can't hear us from here, right?" Rosie whispered to Jamie.

"The phone's in there," Brittany told him as she gestured to the kitchen.

Ben and Jamie went to see if they could figure out what in the world she meant by phone while Rosie just looked around the room. Her face lit up when she recognized a younger version of Alvin smiling in a photo with a younger version of Miss Brittany. "Who's that?" She asked Brittany.

Brittany looked at the photo Rosie asked about with a sad gaze. "That's me and my ex-boyfriend Alvin."

"Why did you guys break up?"

"I received a picture of him kissing another girl."

Rosie sat down on the couch and looked at Brittany. "Did he mean to?"

"He claims she kissed him but I don't know if I believe him or not."

"Did you love him?" The little chipette pestered.

Brittany nodded. "I did and even though I don't want to I still love him."

"My mama used to tell me before she died that love means that you trust the other with your life and that you would do anything for them."

"So maybe I'm not in love with Alvin."

Rosie shook her head in disagreement. "I just think you need to trust what he said and forgive him." She gazed at the picture once more. "He seems like the kind of guy who would be lost without ya."

"You're right, wait you never told me your name."

Rosie's eyes grew wide before she blurted out Alvin's nickname for her, "Posie,"

Brittany smiled. "Well you're right Posie."

"Ready to go squirt?" Jamie asked as he and Ben came back from the kitchen.

"Did you get in touch with your dad?" Brittany asked as she opened the front door for the kids.

"Sure did, thanks for your help." Jamie lied as they quickly left the apartment.

"Bye Miss Brittany!" Rosie called over her shoulder.

Ben and Jamie's eyes widened in panic. Brittany hadn't told them her name. They each grabbed one of their sister's arms. "Run!"

"Why?" Rosie asked but her question was left unanswered as her brothers ran down the stairs and out of the apartment building, dragging their little sister behind.

They didn't stop running until they reached the safety at the park they told their Aunt Eleanor they would be playing at.

"Why did we have to run?" Rosie asked her brothers once they stopped.

"Miss Brittany didn't tell us her name." Jamie told her harshly.

"Oh," Rosie said in understanding.

Ben collapsed on one of the park benches. "Well that accomplished nothing."

Rosie shook her head in disagreement as she sat beside him. "I had a talk with her and I think she's going to forgive Dad."

"Aunt Eleanor," Jamie said.

His sister looked at him like he was insane. "No I talked to Miss Brittany."

"No, there's Aunt Eleanor." Jamie said as he pointed to their aunt coming towards them.

"There you kids are! I've been looking all over for you!" She exclaimed once she reached them. "You guys ready to go get some lunch?"

Rosie jumped to her feet. "Sure, is dad coming?"

Eleanor shook her head. "No he went to go with your Uncle Simon to help pick out an engagement ring."

"Why does Uncle Simon need an engagement ring?" Ben asked. "Isn't he married to your sister?"

"No they broke up a while ago."

"Why?" Jamie asked

"I'll let your dad explain that one to ya." Eleanor told them.

The group began walking and Ben remembered something from earlier. "Hey Aunt Ellie, what's a phone?"


	10. Old Grudges Block Judgement

**A/N: **Here's the next chapter of Never Say Never! Okay so there's no Alvittany in this chappie but I promise there will be some in the next one! I don't own anything but the plot and apparently don't own the title either! Oh and I can't remember if I've mentioned this or not but this is cartoon not GCI. I've had a few people ask so I thought I'd mention it. So please enjoy this chapter and please R&R!

* * *

"What do you think of that one?" Simon asked his older brother.

Alvin shrugged. "It's good too."

"You're absolutely no help, do you know that?"

"You know you should just use this ring and save yourself some money." Alvin said as he pulled out the ring he was going to propose to Brittany with. Without another word he passed it to his brother.

Simon stared at the ring surprised. They stood in silence for about a minute before he passed it back to Alvin. "I'll buy my own ring for Denise. You save that one for Brittany."

"She won't even talk to me." Alvin sighed. "I think it's about time I gave up."

"You can't give up Al." Simon protested.

"I have to Si. She obviously has moved on. It's time I did too. Especially now since I have kids to take care of."

His younger brother was about to protest when something caught his eye. "Excuse me, can I see that ring?"

"A very fine choice, sir." The jeweler told him as he passed him the ring.

"What do you think Al?" Simon asked.

Alvin nodded. "I like it and I bet Denise will love it."

Simon stared at the ring with a smile on his face. "She will, won't she?"

"Just hope she says yes." Alvin said with a smirk.

Simon gave him a glare. "She'll say yes. I know she will."

"So when are you proposing anyway?"

"Wednesday. There's this little place in New York that's a coffee shop slash bookstore. Denise loves it there. I think it's perfect."

Alvin froze. He knew his brother lived in New York with Denise but he hadn't really thought about them going back. "Oh, when are you guys going back again?"

"Monday, we would go sooner but Denise wants to meet Mom. Which reminds me, when are you going to see her? She might want to know that she has three grandkids and maybe mention that you haven't been dead for the past six years." Simon said as he passed his credit card to the jeweler.

"I'll see Mom and let her meet Ben, Jamie, and Rosie as soon as I can. You have fun seeing her this weekend with Denise." Alvin replied.

Simon shook his head. "Just promise me you'll do it soon. Mom probably took your death the worse besides Theodore, Brittany, and me."

"I'll talk to her Si. I promise." Alvin said as he checked the store clock. "I got to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Where are you going?"

Alvin shrugged as he headed towards the door. "Nowhere important."

"That makes it sound important." His older brother shot back.

"I'll show you later. Love ya," Alvin called over his shoulder.

Simon shook his head as he watched his brother go. "Love you too Al."

* * *

Mr. Gray walked into the L.A bar and breathed in air full of smoke and the smell of alcohol. He looked around the room until he spotted his friend Matt drinking a beer while he listened to the awful show tunes coming from the old juke box.

"Matt!"

Matt glanced at his friend and a smile came across his face. "Gary!"

Gary took a seat beside his friend and ordered a beer. "I'm surprised you came to L.A. Everything okay?"

"What, I can't come visit my best friend anymore? How were the kids? They sounded adorable."

Gary glared at his drink. "They were monsters."

Matt shook his head. "No kids are monsters."

"You didn't meet them. One of them was some sort of a genius and was annoying, the middle one was nothing but trouble and at least double the amount of annoying that his brother was, and then there was the little girl who seemed so sweet, innocent, and adorable but no, she had to be the most annoying out of all three of them!" Gary exclaimed.

"They couldn't have been that bad." Matt protested. "You have to be over exaggerating."

"And the worst part is they were freaking chipmunks!"

A knowing smirk came across Matt's lips as he chuckled.

"What?"

Matt shook his head. "Nothing."

"Tell me." Gary demanded.

"You don't hate those kids. You hate that they're chipmunks." Matt said.

Gary scoffed. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Gary we've been friends since what first grade?"

Mr. Gray nodded. "Yeah we traded our sandwiches because you had turkey and I had peanut butter. You liked the way the peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth and I liked turkey because my mom's a vegetarian and wouldn't let me have it so I could only have it when we traded or when I stayed with my dad. What's your point?"

"We've been there for each other through everything. And I remember what happened when that,"

"Don't mention it!" Gary snapped, cutting his friend off in midsentence.

Matt sighed and waited a couple moments before continuing. "This hatred of chipmunks has been going on for far too long dude. It's time to bury the hatchet. You can't blame all chipmunks for something that one did to you when you were a teenager."

"Two of them." Gary muttered quietly.

"What?" Matt asked.

"Two of them hurt me." Gary corrected.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever. Did you find the guy?"

"Yep. He signed the papers and I never have to deal with those brats ever again."

"Did you check him out? You know, follow procedure. It didn't take as long as your other cases normally do?"

"The chipette signed the kids off to him in her will. That's good enough for me."

Matt looked at his friend shocked. "But he could be awful to them. He could be a rapist, or do drugs, or abuse them, or sell them to some other rapist for money."

Gary rolled his eyes. "You're over reacting."

"No I'm not! You need to check this guy out and make sure he is suited to be their father!"

"Fine I'll go back and make sure he's okay to raise them. Will that make you happy?"

Matt nodded. "You bet it will."

Gary sighed. "You're so lucky you're my best friend or else I'd probably give you a black eye."

"You're my best friend too." Matt told him with a smile. "Oh by the way Karen told me to tell you hello."

Gary choked on his drink. "When did you see Karen?"

"She came by yesterday to get the rest of her things before she went to go hang out with her new macho man in Vegas." Matt said miserably.

"So when I asked if everything was okay, you didn't think to mention that."

Matt shrugged. "There's nothing to mention. She came we exchanged a few words then she left."

"She was completely stupid when she left you and the girls." Gary told his friend.

"Thanks. Now you better get going. Those kids could be suffering." Matt ordered as he gestured toward the bar door.

Gary stood up and reached to grab his wallet but Matt stopped him. "It's my treat, man. You go save those kids."

"I will." Gary promised before he left the bar, dreading seeing those little rodents again.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Rosie asked.

Alvin chuckled as he continued to lead his blindfolded children. "It's a surprise."

"Really? I thought the blindfolds were for our own comfort." Ben replied dryly.

Alvin rolled his eyes. "You are so much like your uncle."

"Uncle Simon?" Ben clarified.

"Yes, that's the one."

Ben shook his head in disagreement. "Unlike your brother I happen to actually have skills when it comes to chess."

"He's a little rusty. Give him some time to warm up."

"How much longer?" Jamie asked with a groan.

"Jamie, why don't you have any patience?" Ben asked.

Jamie shrugged. "You're the smart one in the family. You tell me."

"If he's the smart one and you're the awesome one then what am I?" Rosie asked Jamie.

"You're the sweet and innocent one Rose. You can do no wrong." Jamie replied.

"I can to do wrong!" The little chipette protested.

"It's a compliment Rosie Posie." Alvin told her as he stopped in the yard of a house. "Now you three wait her for a second. I'll be right back to guide you the rest of the way."

Ben folded his arms across his chest. "Why can't we just take them off now?"

"Because that would ruin the surprise." Alvin replied before he walked up the few steps that led to the door. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door before he returned to the kids and guided them up the stairs and into the empty house.

"Alright you can take off the blindfolds." He said as he stepped back, waiting for their reactions.

"Where are we?" Jamie asked as he looked around the house.

"It's so pretty." Rosie marveled as she looked around.

Alvin smiled. "Welcome to our new house guys."

"This is ours?" Ben asked surprised. "How on Earth can we afford this?"

"I don't know if you remember me telling you this or not but my job pays me money which I can use for stuff like a house."

The bespectacled chipmunk chuckled sheepishly. "I forgot you got that job at the record company."

A smile split across Rosie's face. "So we get to live here?"

Alvin nodded. "We move into the house in a couple of days."

"Can I have my own room?" Jamie asked. "I'm sick and tired of sharing of room."

"Did you know that I shared a room with my brothers until I was sixteen?" Alvin asked.

Jamie's eyes grew wide. "No Dad, please no! I can't last that long!"

"Gee thanks Jamie." Ben replied sarcastically.

"No problem big brother." Jamie told him with a smile.

Alvin chuckled. "There are three bedrooms and a playroom upstairs. On the count of three you can go claim whichever room you want. Besides the playroom. That one is for all three of you. Got it?" The three nodded. "Alright then, one, two, three, go!"

Jamie pushed his brother and sister out of his way before he raced up the stairs.

"That's no fair Jamie!" Ben yelled before he raced after his little brother.

"Wait for me!" Rosie exclaimed as she hurried up the stairs.

Alvin smiled as he watched them. "Don't kill each other!"

"Mr. Seville,"

Alvin turned surprised to see Mr. Gray standing in the doorway. "Mr. Gray, what are you doing here?"

"I came to check up on you and the children." Mr. Gray explained as he walked slowly into the house, looking around with a look of disdain. "Is this your house?"

"No we broke in and I'm letting my children run around and wreck the place." Alvin joked.

Mr. Gray gave him a cold look. "I do not consider this a joke Mr. Seville."

"Then yes, this is my home. I just purchased it." Alvin said.

"So I assume you've found a job then."

Alvin nodded. "Yes, I'm working at Jett Records. My friend Stu gave me the job."

It was Mr. Gray's turn to nod. "Where are the children?"

"Upstairs, claiming their rooms." Alvin replied simply. "Should I go get them?"

"No, it's fine. I'll speak with them at our next meeting. Will you be in town next weekend?"

Alvin shook his head. "No we're going to go visit my mother."

"Does she live close by?"

"Uh, yeah. She lives in a forest not too far away." Alvin replied. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his wallet. He flipped it open and took out the family picture of his brothers, his mother, and himself that was taken when he graduated from high school. "That's her with my brothers and me."

Mr. Gray accepted the picture and a look of shock came across his face when he looked at the picture. "What are their names?"

"Well my brother with the glasses is Simon, you met him the other day, then my other brother is Theodore, and my mother's name is Vinny." Alvin replied.

Mr. Gray continued to stare at the photo, His eyes clouded with mixed emotions as he released a deep breath and handed the photo back to Alvin. "What a lovely family."

"Thanks," Alvin said confused.

"I'll see you in a couple of days Mr. Seville for our next meeting." The man replied briskly before he stormed out of the house.

"Bye," Alvin called after him confused.

Alvin shook his head after a couple of minutes. "Kids, come down here for a minute."

It took a couple of minutes before the three kids bounded down the steps. "This house is so cool!" Jamie exclaimed.

"My room isn't red!" Rosie shouted with a smile spread across her face.

"My room doesn't have any of Jamie's sports crap in it." Ben said with a smirk towards his brother.

Jamie glared at him. "It isn't crap! All of your useless books and junk is crap!"

"That's enough you two." Alvin said as he pulled out an envelope from his back pocket. "Mrs. Baker sent us a letter. You kids want to hear what is says now or later?"

"Now!" Rosie exclaimed.

Ben shrugged. "I guess I wouldn't mind hearing what's going on back home in the forest."

"Do I have to?" Jamie asked.

He received a glare from both of his siblings and sighed. "Fine, fine, fine what did she say?"

"I haven't read it yet. We'll just have to find out together." Alvin replied as he ripped open the envelope and the kids sat down on the empty floor. "Dear Alvin and children,"

"Dad," Jamie cut him off. "Can you just give us the summary? We can read the details later."

"Fine," Alvin agreed ignoring the look Ben gave him. "Okay, she says that she misses us and that the neighborhood is much quieter without you kids terrorizing everyone. She also said that she went to your mother's funeral the other day and that it was a wonderful service. They buried her right beside your father and she wishes that you kids could've been there to pay your final respects to her."

"I wish we could've been there too." Rosie said wistfully. Jamie wrapped his arm around her shoulders and nodded.

"We all wanted to be there Rose."

Ben looked up at Alvin, trying not to cry at the mention of his deceased mother. "Please continue Alvin."

Alvin nodded and looked back at the letter. "She also says that a family of squirrels is looking at taking our tree but she managed to convince them to let us collect our things next weekend before they move in."

The three kids perked up. "Can we go Dad?" Jamie asked excitedly.

Alvin sighed as he shook his head. "Sorry kiddos. We're visiting your grandmother."

"But we have to go back Alvin!" Rosie complained.

"Can't we go after we visit your mother?" Ben asked.

Their father sighed again he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I guess we could make it,"

"Yes!" All three of the kids cheered.

Alvin smiled. As much as he wanted to see his mother again after being away for six years there was still that part of him that wanted to go back to the forest. After all during those six years he had called that place home. The people became his friends and some as close as family. Alvin especially wanted to go and pay his final respects to Clara. It was the least he could do after she had done so much for him. He knew the kids missed the forest too. If they had a say in it they'd probably skip going to Vinny's altogether and go straight to the forest. At least that's what Jamie would want.

He shook his head and focused on the letter. The remainder of what Mrs. Baker's letter was forest gossip actually from Mrs. Pickley. Mrs. Pickley was a close family friend who always had the latest piece of gossip for Alvin and Clara when they went to the market for supplies. He was surprised she traveled to see Mrs. Baker since they didn't get along and he was even more surprised that Mrs. Baker had allowed the chipette to write on her letter instead of starting her own. He chuckled to himself when after two paragraphs of gossip Mrs. Pickley said she had more but would write it to him later since Mrs. Baker was getting impatient.

He was about to close the letter when under Mrs. Baker's neat signature he saw a P.S. His eyes widened and he felt a smile split across his face as he read the words.

"What else did Mrs. Baker say, Dad?" Ben asked seeing the smile.

"Jack's back." Alvin replied, his smile growing bigger.

Rosie looked at her excited brothers and father confused. "Who's Jack?"

"Jack was a chipmunk who lived by Dr. and Mrs. Baker when you were a baby Rose." Jamie explained. "He was awesome! He always had the coolest stories and could teach you almost anything you wanted to know."

"He spoke five languages and was like a walking encyclopedia. He knew everything about everything." Ben continued.

Alvin chuckled. "He was like a second dad to me. He taught me everything about living in the forest and taking care of you three."

"What happened to him?" Rosie asked.

"Jack doesn't settle down. He left home when he was fourteen and has been traveled illegally on the railroads his whole life. He's had a different job every place he went. The only thing he's really kept to is music." Ben explained.

"He only started living with the Bakers when Dr. Baker became ill. When he got better Jack left again then he came again when your dad died to help take care of you kids and Clara. When he thought I was taking good care of you guys two years later he left again. When Dr. Baker died we sent him a letter thinking he'd come back but he only sent a letter saying that he wished he could come but he was in Maine and couldn't get away from work. He sent some letters and some money to Mrs. Baker but that's all we've heard from him." Alvin finished.

"Does he have a family?" Rosie asked.

Alvin shook his head. "No and if he did he never mentioned them."

"Why did he live with the Bakers? Mrs. Baker never lets anyone into her house. Not even to carry in her groceries." Rosie asked.

Her father shrugged. "No one really knows. Mrs. Baker got annoyed with Jack a lot but they seemed to have a bond so she put up with him and allowed him to look after everything when her husband couldn't."

"I want to meet Jack." Rosie declared.

Alvin smiled. "You've already met him. In fact he's the one who taught me how to change your diapers."

Jamie started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Ben asked.

"Do you remember that time when Rosie flung her poop at Dad when he was trying to change her diaper?" Jamie asked between laughs.

Ben started laughing as he nodded. "How could I forget?"

Rosie looked at her father. "Did I really do that?"

Alvin grimaced as he replied, "It wasn't one of the finest moments of taking care of you as a baby."

* * *

"What happened with the kids?" Matt asked as soon as Gary answered the phone.

"You were right." Gary replied as he drove down the highway, for the first time anxious to get back to his office.

"So what was he doing to the poor things?" Matt asked.

"Suspicion of drugs, abuse, and possible rape to the little girl." Gary listed.

"Please tell me you got those kids out of there." Matt pleaded.

"Not yet, I need to prove they're in danger. I'm going back to my office right now. The investigation will begin soon."

"Well how long will it take? When will it start?"

Gary sighed. "I don't know. It all depends."

"Depends on what?" Matt exclaimed.

"Numerous variables, Matt."

He heard his friend sigh. "Okay, is there anything you need just call me. I'd like to pay you back before I leave."

"Where are you going?" Gary asked confused.

"I've been relocated. They want me to head up our offices in Athens."

"Athens, as in Greece?" Gary asked.

His friend chuckled nervously. "Yeah, pretty much."

"When do you leave?"

"Two weeks." He replied sadly.

"But-how-when-why,"

"Listen I'll answer all of your questions later. I have to go pick the girls up. Bye dude."

"Talk to ya later man. Tell my goddaughters I said hi."

"I will." His best friend promised.

Gary threw his phone to the side and released a deep breath. He had lost everything already. The love of his life, his family, and now he was losing his best friend.

He remembered that stupid chipmunk and the three kids and his grip tightened around the steering wheel. Revenge would be sweet.


	11. Stuck In Here With You

**A/N: **Okay everybody, here is the next chapter of Never Say Never! I think you'll be happy with it but what do I know? Please R&R!

Oh and Random Kat- CGI stands for computer generated imagery. Or at least that's what someone told me.

* * *

"Checkmate." Ben announced dully.

Alvin chuckled. "You got me Ben."

It had taken a couple days but Alvin and the kids finally had settled into their new house and invited Theodore and Eleanor over to dinner. Though, Theodore and Eleanor both insisted on cooking since Alvin had never cooked anything edible outside of the forest.

"Are you okay, Ben?" Rosie asked concerned.

"Yeah, it's just not the same anymore. It was much more fun playing Uncle Simon."

"He'll be back to visit soon." Eleanor said from where she was braiding Rosie's hair.

"Will he bring Miss Denise?" Rosie asked.

Alvin nodded. "Most likely. Why, did you not like her?"

"Quite the opposite, actually." Ben said. "She was a worthy opponent in scrabble. Although she did have an advantage since it was my first time playing."

Rosie smiled. "I don't know what Ben said but Miss Denise was really nice and funny."

Jamie shrugged. "I just don't see why she's with Uncle Simon."

"Why wouldn't she be with Simon?" Theodore asked.

"She's too good for him." Jamie explained.

Eleanor laughed. "Why's that?"

"She just is." He replied.

The phone began ringing and Alvin laughed when he saw who it was on the caller I.D "It's Si," He announced before he answered. "Hello, Seville residence, Alvin speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hey Al, it's me." Simon's voice said loudly, trying to block out the background music.

"Hey Si, we were just talking about you."

"She said yes." Alvin's older brother said barely a second after Alvin finished his sentence.

Alvin was silent for a moment. "What?" He finally asked, confused.

"Denise. I asked her to marry me earlier. She said yes."

A grin split across Alvin's face. "Congrats little brother, but what happened to proposing on Wednesday? It's only Tuesday last time I checked."

"I couldn't wait. I love her so much and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with." Simon replied.

"That's great Simon. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks Al, I better call Theodore and Ellie. Tell the kids I say hello."

"Actually, Theo and El are over here. I invited them over for dinner." Alvin told him.

"Can I talk to them?" His younger brother asked.

"The kids or Theo and El?" Alvin asked.

"Theodore and Ellie." Simon clarified.

Alvin shrugged forgetting his brother couldn't see him. "Okay here they are." He held out the phone to his brother and sister-in-law.

Eleanor immediately let go of Rosie's hair and snatched the phone out of his hand.

"Don't rip my hand off El." Alvin said.

The blonde waved him off as she listened to Simon. "Oh my gosh! Congratulations! I'm so happy for both of you."

"What's going on?" Rosie asked.

Alvin smiled. "Guess what Uncle Simon just asked Miss Denise?"

"Why she's dating him?" Jamie asked.

"No."

"Why he lacks serious skills when he comes to chess?" Ben asked.

Alvin shook his head. "Nope."

"Why the sky is blue?" Rosie asked.

"No."

"What color his underwear is?" Jamie took a random shot.

Alvin sighed. "No. Okay, stop guessing."

"What did he ask then?" Ben questioned halfheartedly.

"He asked her to marry him." Alvin told them. "And she said yes."

A grin spread across Rosie's face. "Yes!"

Jamie leaned towards his brother. "I bet Uncle Simon's rich."

Ben gave him a skeptic look. "Yes, and that's why he's marrying a woman who owns a book shop and lives in a small two bedroom apartment with her."

"Are you a stalker or something?" Jamie asked.

"No, unlike you I actually pay attention to our family when they tell us about their lives instead of plotting ways to break into apartment buildings." Ben replied.

"What did you three do?" Alvin demanded.

"Nothing." Both of the boys chorused.

Alvin gave them a skeptical look. "Benjamin, Jameson, Rosalinda, what did you do?"

"Nothing," Jamie repeated. "Don't you trust us Dad?"

"No." Their dad told them bluntly.

"We didn't do anything Dad." Rosie spoke up. "Let's face it. Jamie's too stupid to figure out to break into an apartment building and Ben's too smart to help him figure how to do it."

Alvin gave all three of his children another skeptical look and Eleanor held out the phone to him. "Simon wants to talk to you again."

Alvin took the phone. "Hello."

"Hey Al, I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be in L.A. this weekend."

"You just left Sunday. Do you miss me that much?" Alvin asked with a grin.

"Uh, no. We just found out that Tyler, my nephew, has to have this surgery next week and Denise wants to go and support her sister."

"Is everything okay?"

"All I know is that he has some genetic disorder from his birth parents. Lana was too much of a wreck to go into further details."

"Where are you?" Alvin asked, annoyed by the music in the background on the other line.

Simon sighed. "You don't want to know."

"Since you said that I want to know even more. So, where are you?"

It took a moment before Simon answered, "I'm standing outside a strip club."

Alvin's eyes widened in shock as a grin split across his face. "Are you kidding me?"

"It's a long story." His little brother tried to defend himself.

"Wait, did you go inside?"

It took a moment before Simon said, "Maybe,"

"Hold on one second, I don't want the kids to hear this." Alvin told his brother as he left the living room and into the kitchen. "Okay, so please explain why you're in a strip club."

"My friend Drew just broke up with his girlfriend and my other friend Nachos thought,"

"Wait," Alvin interrupted him, "you have a friend named Nachos."

"Yeah, his real name is really long and hard to pronounce so his family just called him Nachos. May I continue now?"

Alvin shrugged. "Sure,"

"Alright, so Nachos dragged us to the strip club because that's his solution to every problem and after ten minutes I managed to get out of there with the excuse that I needed to tell you guys about the engagement."

"Quick question, does your fiancée know that you're at a strip club?" Alvin asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yes, I was with her when my friends dragged me here against my will."

"And she's okay with it?" Alvin asked.

"She knows I hate going to these things and dread it."

"You do this often?"

"Unfortunately."

Alvin couldn't help but laugh. "Wow Si, I never thought you'd ever step foot in a strip club."

"Things change Al." Simon replied. "Listen, I got to go. Drew just told me that Nachos is about to be beat by a stripper that's off duty."

"You darn New Yorkers have all of the fun."

Simon laughed. "Trust me. I wish I didn't have to deal with this half the time. Love ya Al."

"Love you too Si." Alvin said before he hung up, allowing his brother to go rescue his friend from the stripper.

He walked back into the living room. "Alright kiddos, bedtime."

All three of the kids simultaneously groaned but said goodnight to Theodore and Eleanor before they went upstairs.

"I'll be up there in a second." Alvin called after them. He waited until his kids were out of earshot before turning to his brother and the Miller sisters. "Guess where Si is?"

"Where?" Theodore asked.

"A strip club."

Eleanor sighed. "Did Drew and Emily break up again or did Nachos just drag him there?"

"Drew and Emily, I think. Wait, you guys know about the strip clubs?"

Theodore shrugged. "Simon talks about his life in New York and his friends all the time. Ever since he left for New York they became his family. He spends Christmas with them, thanksgiving, and our birthday; in fact he only comes home once a year and that's for your memorial."

"Who knows, maybe he'll come home more often now that your home and he's marrying Denise." Eleanor said optimistically.

"He's coming this weekend. Denise's nephew is sick and needs some kind of surgery."

Eleanor's hand flew to her mouth. "The poor thing."

"Two visits in one year. New record," Theodore said halfheartedly.

Alvin looked at his youngest brother. "You're a real Debbie downer, you know that?"

* * *

"Wait, what happened?" Sandra asked in disbelief.

Brittany sighed. "I told you. These three kids came to my apartment trying to sell cookies or something and when I said no they asked if they could call their dad. I said yes and while the two boys were calling their dad the little girl sat down on the couch and started questioning me about Alvin. Then she told me that if you love someone you trust them with your life and you forgive them."

"So you're going to forgive him?" Sandra asked.

"I have no idea! I'm so confused! I want to forgive him but it's been hell for me these past years getting over him. I just don't know if I can go through that heartache again. I want him back so much though."

Sandra gave her a comforting smile. "I really think you need to listen to your heart and not your head. Don't think about what could happen if it ends. Think about how happy you'll be during it. And by your pictures I must say you won't find a better looking chipmunk."

Brittany shook her head. "I don't want to think about Alvin right now."

"Ok but one more thing, when I tell you to forgive Alvin, you ignore me. When a strange little girl tells you to forgive Alvin, you decide you just might forgive him. Tell me is there something wrong with this picture?"

"Sorry Sandra, but she was really wise like way beyond her years of knowledge kind of thing. But then she was also really creepy. I didn't even tell her my name but she knew it."

"Um, honey everyone knows your name. Your last single was number one on the charts for what, two weeks?"

"Three weeks." Brittany corrected.

Sandra rolled her eyes. "My mistake your majesty. But anyway,"

"Brittany," Sandra was cut off by Brittany's assistant Kathryn, "the people from the record company are here." She notified her from the doorway.

"Thanks Kathryn." Brittany said as she stood up. She looked herself over in the mirror one last time to make sure she looked presentable before she followed Kathryn out of the room, Sandra following behind them. "I really could use some of Stu's humor to cheer me up."

"Speaking of Stu," Kathryn began looking at Sandra, "how are things going with you two?"

"We're just friends." The stylist insisted.

"With benefits." Brittany added with a smirk.

A small smile appeared on Sandra's face. "Yeah, that too."

Brittany froze in her tracks causing her friends to look at her concerned. "Are you okay Britt?" Kathryn asked worriedly.

Brittany couldn't respond. She was too shocked. She saw Stu, an old friend of hers who worked at the record company she was currently signed to. Standing beside him though was none other than Alvin Seville. He was talking to Brittany's manager with that familiar smile on his lips. _"I forgot how good he looks in a suit. No, snap out of it Brittany!"_

"You alright Britt?" Sandra asked concerned.

"What is he doing here?" She hissed as she gestured to Alvin.

Kathryn looked at Alvin and smiled, completely clueless to why Brittany was so upset. "That's Alvin Seville. He's the new executive. He was in a band a long time ago and met Stu. They were going to work together years ago but then he went missing after some car accident. He just started."

"That's Alvin." Sandra said with a grin. "Wow Britt, your ex is even cuter in person."

"Shut up." Brittany snapped. She looked up and saw Alvin looking at her. "Oh crap."

"Brittany!" Her manager called beckoning her over.

She forced a smile as she walked over to the three men with her friends.

"Brittany you know Stu and this is Alvin Seville. Alvin, this is our star Brittany Miller."

"Hey Stu, good to see you again." She greeted Stu with a friendly smile. "Mr. Seville, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Miss Miller," Alvin greeted his voice surprisingly cold.

Brittany's manager looked between the two of them. "Do you know each other?"

"A long time ago." Alvin replied briskly.

"George, why don't you show me what's going on with that girl band you haven't shut up about lately and we'll let these two catch up."

The manager nodded. "Of course. Follow me."

George left with Stu trailing close behind.

"Kathryn, I think we better go." Brittany spoke up after a couple moments of silence. "Are you coming Sandra?"

Sandra shook her head. "Nah, I'm fine. Besides we can't leave Al all alone."

"Yes we can." Brittany insisted.

"Go on without me. I'll catch up with ya later." Sandra said.

Brittany glanced between her amused ex and her smirking best friend before she turned around and quickly stormed off. Kathryn hurried behind her.

* * *

Alvin watched her storm off sadly.

"You still love her."

He turned to see Brittany's friend smirking at him. "Of course I do."

"Then why don't you tell her?"

"I'm trying to but she won't listen."

"Try harder! She's as stubborn as hell but you can get through to her if you try hard enough."

Alvin rolled his eyes. "I don't even know you."

"Sandra, Sandra Robertson. I'm Brittany's stylist."

"Alvin Seville. I'm Brittany's ex-boyfriend."

She nodded. "Oh I know. Brittany hasn't shut up about you lately. 'Do I forgive him or do I ignore him? Help me Sandra!' It's getting annoying so just ask her out already so we can move on with our lives."

"I wish it were that simple." He said with a sigh.

They stood in silence until Sandra spoke up, "I can help you if you'd like."

He gave her a skeptical look. "How?"

She pulled out her cell phone. "Let me make one quick phone call."

Sandra began walking in the direction Brittany left until she stopped and turned back to Alvin. "Are you coming?"

He nodded before he quickly followed her.

* * *

"I can't believe he's here." Brittany exclaimed as she collapsed on the couch in her dressing room.

"It's not that big of a deal Britt." Kathryn told her. "I just don't see why you can't," She was cut off by her phone ringing.

Brittany watched her answer the phone and talk for a minute before turning back to Brittany. "Sorry, George needs me. I'll be right back, I promise."

"Go ahead, leave me. Just like everyone else has." Brittany said dramatically as she gestured to the door.

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "You are such a drama queen. When your contract's up you should go into acting."

"I'll consider it." Brittany told her.

Brittany watched her assistant leave the room as she laid back on her couch and closed her eyes, hoping to get some sleep before she had to deal with Alvin again.

The lights suddenly turned off causing Brittany to sit up.

"What the," She heard a familiar voice exclaim as its owner fell on the floor. Her dressing room door slammed shut.

"Who's there?" She demanded.

"Britt?" The voice asked groggily.

"Alvin?" She asked in disbelief.

"The one and only currently in this building." He replied.

Her eyes widened. "What are you doing in here?"

"I have no idea. Your stylist turned off the lights and shoved me in here. Hold on one second,"

The lights were turned on and Brittany saw Alvin standing by the light switch. "Thanks Al."

"No problem." He replied.

They stood in silence before Brittany spoke up, "You can go now."

He shook his head. "Can't we're locked in."

"How do you know?"

"I already tried to open the door." He told her.

"Oh," She said simply before they fell into silence once more.

"Why won't you listen to what I have to say?" Alvin finally asked

"Because nothing you have to say is something I want to hear." She snapped.

"I didn't kiss her Britt."

She rolled her eyes. "There's something we haven't heard before."

He sighed in frustration. "Why on earth would I kiss her? I loved you Brittany, I still do."

"You don't even know me Alvin."

"I don't know you?" Alvin asked in disbelief. "How can you say that I don't know you?"

"People change Alvin. I know I have." She retorted bitterly.

He shook his head in disbelief. "No, I don't believe you have. I still think you're the same Brittany I loved and still love. The same chipette who isn't afraid to speak her mind, who is as stubborn as hell, and who is the most beautiful chipette I have ever met."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't waste your time sucking up Alvin. What you did was unforgivable."

"I didn't kiss her Britt." Alvin exclaimed.

"Why should I believe you didn't kiss her? Why should I believe you love me instead of her? Why should I believe any of this crap you've been saying? Why, why should I?" She asked.

"If I didn't love you then why was I planning on proposing to you the night of my accident?" he yelled.

Brittany froze. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Alvin was going to propose? "You were going to what?"

He sighed. "I loved you Brittany, I still do. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. After the accident I spent six years constantly thinking about you. I missed you so much Britt it hurt. And then,"

"Shut up Seville."

He looked at her confused. "What?"

"Stop talking, I believe you." She said quietly.

A smile across his face. "Really?"

She nodded. "I might regret this later but yeah, I believe you."

* * *

"I got it!"

Brittany stepped back right before the front door opened to reveal Alvin. "You're here."

"You sound relieved." She replied with a grin.

He chuckled. "I will admit that I was getting worried you wouldn't show up for our sort of date."

"I wouldn't do that to you Al. Besides, I'm looking forward to meeting your kids." Brittany said. "May I come in?"

"Of course. I hope you're hungry because tonight we will be dining on dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets with curly fries."

Brittany smiled as he took her coat. "Sounds delicious." She walked into the house while Alvin hung up her coat. "Where are the kids?"

"I don't know about my brothers but I'm right here."

Brittany turned to see a little chipette. She instantly recognized her as the little chipette who gave her the advice. "Posie,"

A grin spread across the chipette's face. "You must be mistaken Miss Brittany, my name's Rosie."


	12. Mother Knows Best

**A/N: **Okay so I am so, so sorry about the late update but I had some major writer's block for this story but luckily I overcame it. This will probably be my only story with Vinny in it. I'm not going to get into why I don't really include her in my stories, but if you want to know feel free to ask in your reviews or send me a PM.

Anyway, please enjoy the chapter and please review!

* * *

"Dad, why can't we go to the forest?" Jamie asked his father for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"Because that's your punishment, Jamie. You three went to Brittany's apartment without my permission and lied to her. Not to mention meddled in my love life which you three had no right to do. So you three are going to stay here with Brittany, Jeanette, and Aunt Eleanor while your Uncle Simon, Theodore, and I go visit your grandmother then go to the forest." Alvin replied as he placed his bag in the car.

Jamie folded his arms over his chest. "That's no fair though!"

"You should've thought about the consequences." Alvin told him.

He heard a giggle and turned around to see the three Miller sisters looking at him with amused expressions.

"What?" He asked.

Brittany shook her head. "Nothing, it's just weird seeing you discipline your kids."

Alvin chuckled. "All I can say now after raising these three, God bless Dave for all he put up with."

"Where are Simon and Denise? I thought they were supposed to be here hours ago?" Eleanor asked.

Theodore shrugged. "When he called he said they'd be here soon. Apparently traffic from the hospital was bad."

As if on cue, a rental car pulled into the driveway carrying Simon and Denise.

All three of the kids jumped up from their seats on the ground and raced towards their uncle and their future aunt.

Alvin looked back at Jeanette and saw her observing the red-haired chipette closely. Eleanor had ended up blurting out Simon's engagement to her older sister earlier that day while Alvin had told Brittany during their dinner.

"Are you going to be okay?" Brittany asked Jeanette.

Jeanette nodded. "Of course. Simon and I have been broken up for years. Why would I care about his new fiancée? I'm the one who ended it, remember?"

"I think you still have feelings for him." Brittany said.

The bespectacled chipette glared at her older sister. "Are we seriously going to get into this?"

Brittany shrugged. "Fine, we can talk about it later."

"Just don't talk about it when we're with Denise though. That would be really awkward."

"When are we going to be with Denise?" Brittany asked.

"I invited her to go shopping with us today." Eleanor said.

Both of her sister looked at her surprised. "And you didn't think to tell us because?" Brittany asked.

Eleanor shrugged. "It never seemed like an appropriate time."

"Hey guys," Simon greeted as Denise, the kids, and he joined them.

"Hey Si, Denny, welcome back to Cali." Alvin greeted.

"It's good to be back." He said before he turned to Denise. "Denise, these are Eleanor's sisters, Brittany and Jeanette."

It was obvious from Denise's facial expression that she was uncomfortable meeting the brunette chipette. She forced a smile as she said, "It's nice to finally meet you both."

Jeanette looked at the chipette with a puzzled look. "Have we met before?"

Denise shook her head. "No, I don't believe so."

"Are you sure, you look really familiar." Jeanette asked again.

"Positive. I really haven't left New York in years. Only to visit my family."

"Sorry, it's just you look really familiar."

"It's fine." Denise said with a smile before she turned to Alvin. "Al, where's your bathroom."

"I'll show you where it is!" Rosie exclaimed.

"Alright then, let's go girlie." Denise said as she took Rosie's paw in her own and allowed the little chipette to lead her into the house.

"Thanks again El, for letting Denise come with you guys. It means a lot to her. And to me." Simon told her.

Eleanor smiled brightly. "It's no problem. Besides, she's going to be part of the family soon anyway."

"She didn't seem too comfortable with us though." Brittany pointed out as she folded her arms over her chest and pursed her lips.

"She's just not used to you guys yet. Give her some time." He said.

"I swear I've seen her somewhere before." Jeanette said.

"I'm pretty sure you haven't." Simon corrected her.

"How's your nephew?" Eleanor asked, trying to change the subject.

Simon sighed. "He's better, I guess. However, he still has a little ways to go until he's all better, but he's getting there."

"Well that's good. How are his parents holding up?" Alvin asked.

"They're strong. First time I've ever seen Denise's sister cry though." He replied.

"Alright, so when are we leaving?" Theodore spoke up.

"Well we have to get going if we want to make it to Clara's old place before the squirrels take it over." Alvin said.

Ben sighed. "I still can't believe our childhood home is going to a family of squirrels."

"Last time I checked, your childhood is still going on." Simon pointed out.

"I'm ten. My childhood ends when I turn thirteen. I've lived in that house since I was born. It's my childhood home." He retorted.

"It's so weird seeing Simon outsmarted by a kid. Let alone Alvin's kid." Brittany said to her sisters.

"Technically, I am not related to Alvin by blood." Ben pointed out.

"Alright smarty pants, that's enough." Rosie commanded as she stepped back on the porch with Denise behind her.

Ben shrugged as his baby sister took a seat next to him and Jamie on the porch steps. "I'm right though."

"You know one of these days you're going to be wrong. And when you are, I will never let you forget." Jamie warned him.

Alvin chuckled. "Alright you two cut it out and come say goodbye."

Rosie was the first one to jump up from her seat and to race into Alvin's arms. "Bye Dad, be safe."

Her brothers followed her lead and joined the hug. "Say hi to Mrs. Baker and everyone else for us." Jamie told him.

"And give Mom our final respects." Ben requested.

Alvin hugged them close to him. "I will kiddos." He promised.

He released his kids and looked up to see Simon kissing Denise goodbye, Theodore saying goodbye to his own wife, and Brittany looking at him while Jeanette looked bored.

He stood up and wrapped his arms around Brittany. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." He told her as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Just try not to kill my kids while I'm gone."

Her eyes narrowed and she quickly pushed herself away from him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He chuckled. "Even after all these years I still know how to tick you off."

A small smile came across his girlfriend's face. "That was not funny."

"It was from this end." He disagreed.

She rolled her eyes before he kissed her goodbye.

"Are we ready to go?" Simon asked.

Alvin nodded. "Yeah we are."

"Be safe." Denise called after them as they walked to the car.

"We will!" Simon promised her before he entered the car.

"So you guys ready to see Mom?" Theodore asked from the backseat.

Alvin sighed as he started the car. "Not really, but the sooner the better I guess."

"Don't worry I'm sure everybody who's come back from the dead dreads seeing their birthmother again." Simon told him.

Alvin shot him a glare before he looked back at Theodore. "I say we dump him at the next gas station."

* * *

"Why are you so nervous?" Simon asked Alvin as they walked to the front door of their mother's tree.

"Mom thinks I'm dead!" Alvin exclaimed.

"So, think of how happy she'll be that you're alive." Theodore said.

Alvin sighed, still feeling nervous as he knocked on the door to the tree.

"Coming!" Vinny's voice called from inside.

"Hello, how can I," She stopped when she saw her sons standing on the porch. "Oh my word."

Alvin smiled. "Hey Mom."

Vinny threw her arms around her eldest son as tears began to pour from her green eyes. "I thought you were dead."

Alvin wrapped his arms around her and found himself tearing up as well. "I'm okay Mom. I'm right here. I'm fine."

Vinny stepped back from her eldest son. She looked up to see his face-due to the fact he was almost twice as tall as her- and smiled.

"So much like Jack." Alvin thought he heard his mother mutter as she held his face in her hands.

He gave her a confused look. "What?"

She snapped out of her trance and released his face. "I said missed you so much."

Alvin nodded unconvinced as he watched his mother turn to her other two sons and greet them.

"Oh come on inside boys. We have so much to catch up on. But first will someone please explain to me that my son who has supposedly been dead for six years is standing right beside me?"

It took about thirty minutes before Vinny heard the whole story about Alvin's disappearance and most of his return-he left out Simon and Jeanette's arguments, and getting back together with Brittany-told mostly by Alvin with a few interruptions from his brothers.

Vinny sat back in her seat. "That is a lot to take in." She looked up at her son and smiled. "Am I really a grandmother?"

Alvin nodded as he pulled out his wallet and grabbed the picture of the kids. "The one with the glasses is Ben, the other boy is Jamie, and the little girl is Rosie."

She looked at the picture with one of the biggest smiles Alvin had ever seen on his mother's face. "They're beautiful." She murmured as she traced her finger over the figures in the photo.

"They're basically my world." Alvin told her.

Vinny passed the photo back and shook her head. "I honestly wasn't expecting you to have kids. Not until you were married anyway." She looked at her middle son. "And speaking of marriage how is Denise?"

Simon smiled out of what Alvin knew was pure happiness. His younger brother hadn't shut up about his fiancée the whole ride to their mother's home and Alvin was surprised he hadn't mentioned her yet. "I proposed to her last Tuesday."

"What did she say?" Vinny asked excitedly.

"She said yes." He replied, his smile somehow growing bigger.

"That's wonderful! I really like her." She told him as she stood up and walked into the kitchen. "I'm so happy for you two. You deserve to be happy. Especially after what that tramp did to you."

Alvin sighed. "Not you too."

Vinny pursed her lips as she grabbed a vegetable and began peeling it. "What she did was unforgivable, Alvin. She doesn't deserve your sympathy."

"Drop it, Mom." Simon told her. "I don't want to talk about it."

She let out a sigh and turned to face her sons. "I'm sorry dear."

"It's fine Mom." Simon reassured her as he stood up. "Theo, why don't we go get some more wood for the fire."

Theodore shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Alvin watched them go before he looked at his mother. "I thought you loved Jeanette. What happened?"

"Nothing changed; I still love Jeanette like a daughter."

"Then what was 'she doesn't deserve our sympathy' and all of that?"

Vinny sighed as she paused her cutting. "I don't want Simon to feel like I'm against him. It's our duty as Simon's family to support him and be on his side with these kinds of things. Whether we agree with him or not. Of course I don't agree with what Jeanette did. She came to me asking for help when she was pregnant. I could tell that she regretted what she did and she was scared, so I helped her."

Alvin looked at his mother surprised. "You helped Jeanette with her pregnancy?"

She nodded. "You want to know what happened, don't you."

"Yeah, Theo said that no one knows what happened to the kid."

"No one besides Jeanette and me." She replied.

"What about Paulie?" Alvin asked.

"Jeanette told him at the beginning that she didn't want him to have anything to do with the baby. Eventually she came around and let him be involved with some things though. So I guess he does know."

"What happened to the baby?" Alvin asked.

"Jeanette always knew she wasn't going to keep her baby. I mean it was a reminder of the mistake that ruined her marriage in her eyes. So when it was born Jeanette got to hold her son for about three seconds before he was taken to his new parents then to the NICU."

Alvin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "NICU?"

"He was two months premature." Vinny explained. "Luckily he had his mother's strength and survived."

"Was it opened or closed?" Alvin asked.

Vinny looked at him confused. "Was what?"

"The adoption."

"It was closed." She said as took a seat across from her son. "Although the people who adopted him are very nice and send Jeanette updates and pictures about every six months, I believe."

He ran a hand through his hair as he let out a breath. "Does Simon know?"

"Does Simon know what?" Simon asked as he entered the tree with Theodore. Both were carrying firewood.

"Does Simon know that my neighbor believes he's Andrew Jackson?" Vinny told him quickly.

Theodore cracked a grin as he looked at Simon. "Because we all know how much Si loves Andrew Jackson."

"Don't get me started on that man." Simon growled.

Alvin looked over at his mother to see she has returned to cutting her vegetables, as if the conversation never happened.

* * *

"It's so weird seeing this place like this." Alvin said as he looked around the empty tree.

After a tearful goodbye at their mother's, the boys drove up to the Oregon border where Clara used to live before she died.

The tree looked exactly the same as Clara always had it and a pang of sadness hit Alvin as he looked around the place he had called home for six years.

"You alright Al?" Theodore asked concerned.

He nodded, trying to stay together. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"What are you going to do with all of this?" Simon asked as he looked around the tree.

"I'll give most of it away to the neighbors. The things that mattered to Clara and the kids I'll ask Mrs. Baker to store for me until I can get it to the house." Alvin replied.

"Who's Mrs. Baker?" Theodore asked.

"She lives across the street. Her husband was Clara's lawyer until he died, and then Mrs. Baker took over. She's a close family friend."

"Alvin!" A voice called from the distance.

Alvin looked around trying to locate who the voice belonged to. "Did you guys hear that?"

Both of his brothers nodded.

"Alvin Seville!" The voice called again.

Alvin headed out to the front porch with his brothers behind him. He grinned when he saw who the voice belonged to.

"There you are!" Mrs. Baker exclaimed from her front porch when she saw the brothers step out onto the porch.

"Hey Mrs. Baker." Alvin greeted as he walked down the porch steps to meet her halfway.

She wrapped her arms around him in a hug when he reached her and whispered in his ear, "Welcome home."

"It's good to be back." He replied as he released the elderly chipette and turned to his brothers. "Mrs. Baker these are my brothers, Simon and Theodore. Si, Theo, this is Mrs. Baker."

"It's nice to finally meet you boys." Mrs. Baker told them. "Alvin spoke about you two a lot."

"It's nice to meet you too." Theodore responded cheerfully.

"Would you boys like some tea?" Before any of the boys could answer, Mrs. Baker turned around and headed towards her tree. She stopped halfway up her porch steps and turned to face the brothers. "Are you three coming?"

"Wait we're allowed to come into your tree?" Alvin asked surprised. "You never let anyone come into your tree."

"I don't let anyone who lives in this forest come into my tree. You are guests." Mrs. Baker corrected them.

The boys followed Mrs. Baker into her tree and Alvin immediately felt at home in the tree. The fire was lit providing heat for the room filled with old fashion furniture. Hung on the tree walls were photos, most in black and white but a few in color.

"You boys are in luck. I just made a batch of your favorite tea, Alvin. It just needs a touch of honey." Mrs. Baker told them as she headed into her small kitchen.

Simon and Theodore sat on separate floral pattern chairs while Alvin opted for the identical couch.

"Sounds good, Mrs. Baker." Alvin told her. "How's,"

"You just missed him." Mrs. Baker cut him off and Alvin sighed in disappointment. "But he's just working nearby so I guess you can go visit him if you'd like."

Alvin perked up. "Sounds great."

"So where are the children, Alvin?"

"They're at home with Brittany and her sisters. They're being punished."

"Why?"

"They meddled in my love life and sort of broke into an apartment complex."

Mrs. Baker chucked as she carried a tray with four cups of tea into the living room and set it in front of the boys. "They're just like his father when he was young."

"What is this? It's delicious!" Theodore commented after taking a sip of the drink.

"It's birch bark tea with a splash of honey. It's always been Alvin's favorite." She told him before she took a sip of her own drink.

Simon choked on his drink. "Bark, like from a tree?"

Mrs. Baker laughed. "Where else would you get birch bark from besides a birch tree?"

Simon placed his drink on the coffee table with a look of pure disgust on his face.

"So you were talking about the kids' father." Theodore stated before he took another sip of his tea.

Mrs. Baker nodded. "I've known Mark Morrison since he was in diapers. Ben and Jamie remind me so much of him. Rosie too."

"Mark Morrison." Simon repeated before he looked at his brother. "Is that where you got your fake name?"

"Yeah, but you never told me you knew Mark when he was a kid."

She nodded. "I knew Clara too. Those two were inseparable even as children. Clara would always follow Mark around and he would always follow Clara around and he would always do reckless things to try to impress her. I remember once when my daughter was babysitting Clara,"

"Wait," Alvin interrupted her. "You have a daughter?"

"Had," She corrected as her gaze shifted to the floor. "She died a couple years ago in a terrible snow storm."

She quickly stood up wiping the tears from her eyes. "I left something on in the kitchen."

The boys watched her scurry into the kitchen.

"Poor Mrs. Baker." Theodore muttered as he placed his cup of tea on the coffee table.

Alvin nodded in agreement as he allowed his eyes to scan the room. They rested on one of the pictures hanging on the wall.

It was in a brass oval frame and by the coloring Alvin could tell it had been taken more than twenty years ago. It was of a teenage girl, no older than fifteen, wearing a blue sundress. Her long brown hair was tied off to the side and rested on her shoulder while her bright green eyes were shielded by glasses with gold frames. However, it was the smile that convinced Alvin he knew this chipette from somewhere.

"Mrs. Baker," Alvin called.

"Hm?"

"What was your daughter's name?" He asked, not taking his gaze off of the photo.

"Vinny, why?"


	13. The Exwife and the Fiancée

**A/N: **Greetings everyone from somewhere in either Georgia or Alabama. I'm currently in the middle of the long twelve hour trip back to Louisiana from South Carolina. Don't ask how I managed to get internet to post this. It's far too complicated for me to explain.

Anyway, I have to apologize to you guys though. I've been going through a rough time and it's taken a toll on my writing. Luckily, everything is turning around thanks to the help of my ah-mazing friends things are finally looking up. If you have no idea what I'm talking about you can read my journal on deviantart- titled "Cry," (And yes I have a deviantart even though I can't draw to save my life! Don't question it!) but I'd be surprised if you did.

Also I'm going to try to update another one of my stories by the end of the week. So if you have a story you really want updated, tell me!

**IMPORTANT NOTICE:**

Okay so I don't know if you guys remember but Alvin's talked about the chipmunk a couple times in the story. He used to live with Mrs. Baker, helped Alvin when he first came to the forest, loves rock and roll, left one day and now travels all over the country with a group of friends. yeah, that's Jack. He plays a minor-important role in this chapter.

So don't let me keep you guys with my ramble any longer. Go read! And then if you feel especially nice leave a review! I'd really appreaciate it.

* * *

"Here we are." Brittany said as she pulled into the parking lot of the shopping complex her sisters, Denise, where she would spend the rest of the day while Dave spent some time with his new grandchildren.

The car ride had mostly been filled with awkward silence occasionally broken by Eleanor asking Denise questions about herself or trying to get a conversation going between

Whenever Eleanor began to speak Brittany snuck a glance at her bespectacled sister sitting in the passenger seat next to her. Jeanette's gaze never left from looking outside the window and like Brittany she never said a word the whole ride.

"It's beautiful." Denise said as she stepped out of the vehicle and looked around.

"Do you have a place like this back in New York?" Jeanette asked.

Denise laughed. "Not anything like this. Simon and I live in Manhattan so most shopping centers are pretty big and intimidating. I only go to them when my friend, Emily, drags me there. And that's only after she and her boyfriend break up."

"So you don't go shopping often?" Brittany asked.

The redhead shook her head. "Unfortunately Emily and Drew break up every other day. I don't buy much though. Simon and I have it tough enough as it is."

"What do mean?" Eleanor asked.

"I run a coffee shop and Simon works at some advertising agency and his pay check got cut in half because of some lawsuit the company went through. We're pulling through though."

Eleanor smiled cheerfully. "Well, today is on us. So don't worry about anything."

"What, no Eleanor. I possibly couldn't let you guys do that." Denise protested.

"You're going to be my sister in law soon and eventually you're going to be Brittany's too. C'mon, let us welcome you properly to the family."

"The family?" Denise asked surprised.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, you're an orphan with no family."

"Orphan, yes. No family, no. I have a sister, Lana."

"She's the one with the son in the hospital, right?" Brittany asked.

Denise nodded. "Considering she's my only sister, yes that's her."

"Well," Brittany began but to her surprise Jeanette cut her off.

"Britt, I think that's enough. Leave the girl alone."

Brittany looked at her younger sister surprised but said nothing else as they walked into the store, awkward silence passing between the four of them.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Alvin was overwhelmed by all of the thoughts in his head. He just found out that the chipette who had been looking out for him for six years was actually his grandmother. The chipette who had helped him and Clara raise Ben, Jamie, and Rosie had raised his mother. She probably even helped her daughter with her children since Vinny was a single mother.

Wait.

If Mrs. Baker was really his grandmother than why hadn't she recognized him and his brothers? She said the last time she saw Vinny was before the snowstorm, and they were already alive then. So why hadn't she recognized them? Or at least their names? There couldn't be that many triplet chipmunks named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore in the world, could there?

Then there was his mother, Vinny. He had told her all about how Mrs. Baker had helped him and looked out for him while he was staying in the forest with Clara and the children. Why didn't she tell him that the chipette that had helped him and her mother had the same name?

Alvin sighed as he combed his fingers through his hair. This was way too much to take in. He had just seen his mother for the first time in six years and then he came back to see his old friends and discovered who his grandmother is.

He looked over at his brothers who were in the same boat he was. Shock and confusion were written all over their face as they stared at their grandmother struggling not to cry as she tidied up her already neat kitchen.

Alvin felt a pang of guilt as he watched the disturbed chipette. He slowly rose from his seat and ignored the looks he received from his brothers as he walked over to the elderly brunette.

"Mrs. Baker," He said quietly, fighting the urge to just blurt out what he had discovered and ask her all of his questions.

"Yes, Alvin?"

Alvin reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and pulled out the same picture he had shown Mr. Gray a couple days ago.

He held it out to her, trying to keep his voice steady as he asked, "Mrs. Baker, is this your daughter?"

Mrs. Baker gasped as she reached for the photo, her hand shaking. "No, it can't be. V-V-Vinny died in that snowstorm with her boys." She said, her voice cracking in disbelief.

"She escaped. And since she knew she couldn't take care of us in that storm she gave us away to a human named Dave. The one I told you about."

Mrs. Baker didn't say anything as she looked at the picture in shock. Tears beginning to stream down her cheeks as she gently touched the picture of her adult daughter with her finger. "It's my baby girl, all grown up." She looked up at her grandsons. "And she has babies of her own and they even have babies. I missed everything."

Alvin wrapped his arm around the elderly chipette comfortingly. "Sh, it's okay Mrs. Baker. She's fine. We're fine. And at the moment I'm the only one with kids, who you know very well. You haven't missed much."

"I know, but for all of these years I thought that you boys and Vinny were dead. I mean, I vividly remember the day that," She stopped her eyes growing wide with shock as she whispered, "Oh my god."

She turned around and walked into the living room stopping only when she reached the wall of pictures. Mrs. Baker glared at the picture Alvin recognized as her late husband Dr. Baker. "You sick little rodent." She growled at the photo.

"Is everything okay, Mrs. Baker?" Theodore asked confused as why his grandmother was talking to a picture like that.

"I have to go do something." She told them, not taking her gaze off of the photo until she turned around and stormed out of the room.

"What was up with her?" Simon asked.

"And who's in the picture?" Theodore added.

Alvin shook his head. "I have no idea what's up with Mrs. Baker but I know that the picture is of our late grandfather."

"That's our grandfather?" Theodore asked quietly as he looked at the picture. "You look so much like him, Si."

"I guess I do." Simon said as he looked at the picture of the elderly munk.

Alvin nodded in agreement. Mr. Baker had been a tall munk, on the skinny side, with gray eyes just like Simon's. He was known around the forest for his wisdom and for always remaining calm no matter what the situation was. "You're a lot like him." He told his younger brother. "Except he was always calm no matter what and he didn't use his sarcastic whit as much as you do."

A small smile came across Simon's face. "What was his name?"

"Paul Simon Baker."

"Paul Simon, seriously?" Theodore asked.

Alvin nodded. "Here's the kicker, his parents had never even heard of rock and roll."

"You're kidding." Simon said in disbelief.

Alvin shook his head. "Nope, Paul never even knew about it until he met Jack."

"That's the guy who taught you how to survive here, right?"

"Yeah, he was always there for me. Kind of like a second dad."

Just as Alvin finished, Mrs. Baker returned to the room, clutching an old, faded envelope in her paw. She stepped in front of Alvin and held it out to him. "Paul gave this to me right before he died. He told me that Jack had given it to him when he left. I have been under strict instructions not to give this to you until you were ready. And I think I finally understand what he meant by that. So here."

Alvin accepted the envelope and pulled out a letter written in Jack's messy scrawl.

He felt his body go numb as he read the words on the page, not wanting to believe what they were saying.

"Alvin," He heard Theodore's concerned voice. "What did Jack have to say?"

Alvin looked up at Mrs. Baker, furious. "He knew and he never told me. He knew since we first met and he never said anything. Why?"

"Maybe he thought it was for the best you didn't know." Mrs. Baker said.

"How could that be for the best? I had a right to know!" Alvin yelled.

"What did he say Al?" Simon's calm voice asked.

Alvin threw the letter to the ground before he looked at his brothers. "Jack's our dad."

* * *

Meanwhile, the girls were walking around the shopping center when Denise's phone started ringing.

"Hold on, I'll only be a moment." Denise told them as she answered her phone and walked away from the group of sisters. "Hello,"

"Hey little sister."

Denise felt so relieved when she heard her older sister's voice. It was just what she needed. "Hey Lana,"

"What's up?"

"Nothing much, shopping with Simon's sister-in-law, Alvin's girlfriend, and Simon's ex-wife."

"Sounds like a whole lot of fun." Lana teased.

Denise scoffed. "I'm certain one of them hates me."

"Well you can't really expect Simon's ex-wife to like you."

"It's not her though. It's Alvin's girlfriend. She's acting like I'm the worst thing on the planet."

Lana snorted. "Don't pay attention to her. She sounds like a bitch."

Denise rolled her eyes at her sister's typical behavior. "So what are you doing?"

"Sitting in a hospital room, watching TV with Tyler."

"How's he feeling?"

"Better, he keeps on asking when Gaga and Aunt Denny are going to come visit him."

Denise shook her head. "We just visited him yesterday."

"I know but he adores his aunt and uncle. I don't know what that messed up fiancé of yours did but Tyler loves him."

"Tyler's known Simon since he was a couple months old. He's always loved him."

"Yeah but I've just noticed how much he loves him. Now a days it's always, "Gaga this," and "Gaga that," and "Don't touch the puzzle until Gaga gets back." It's getting annoying, really."

"Awe, well I doubt Gaga will be able to help finish the puzzle. After this we aren't visiting for a long time."

"Why?" Lana asked.

"We can't afford to Lana."

"Well what about your wedding?"

"You mean the one that will take place in New York with just a small group of friends?"

"You're telling me that your sister, your only living relative, isn't invited to your wedding?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Simon and I already agreed on no family."

"Why not?"

"Because his is huge and messed up while ours is just messed up."

"Our family isn't that bad."

"You really want to go there?"

"Okay fine, we're totally screwed but we should still be invited."

Denise sighed. "No Lana, only our New York friends are going to be there. We can't afford a big wedding."

"Dan and I can help out. The bride's family is supposed to pay anyway."

"No, Simon and I are paying for our own wedding. Besides, we both have had a huge wedding and look where that got us."

It was Lana's turn to sigh. "Okay, but if you change your mind, just call me."

"On the wedding or actually getting married?"

"Either, I would prefer to get the call about the getting married though."

"I thought you were warming up to Simon?"

"No, I don't like him and I never will. I will, however, always be thankful for him."

"For what?" Denise asked curiously.

"He saved you."

"How did he save me?"

"When I was focusing on adopting after I found out I was infertile, I was paying no attention to what was going between you and Josh."

"Oh Lana, we've been over this. It's not your fault."

"Let me finish." Her older sister ordered. "Anyway, while I was being my usual selfish self, Simon was looking out for you. He was taking care of you and making sure you were safe. I just wish that it had been me doing all of that instead of some random stranger."

"He wasn't a stranger, he was a good friend. Besides, he knew the signs of a failing relationship. He was trapped in one himself. His relationship was just failing because of different reasons then mine. Wait, is that why you hate Simon? He noticed when you didn't?"

"Well yeah but," She stopped mid-sentence and it took a couple moments before she continued. "Lana I have to go, Tyler's doctor is here."

"Okay, love you and tell Tyler that Gaga and Aunt Denny love him."

"Will do." Lana promised before she hung up.

Denise dropped her phone in her purse and turned around, surprised to see Jeanette standing behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Denise asked surprised.

"I came looking for you. I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Everything's fine." She reassured. "Um, how long have you been standing there?"

"Not long. I came in just as you started talking about Simon's failed marriage."

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Jeanette replied stiffly.

Denise sighed. "Look Jeanette, I know you hate me,"

"I don't hate you." The brunette interrupted with an amused smile.

"You don't?"

"Of course not. Why would I?"

"Because I'm kind of engaged to your ex-husband."

"So? Look Denise, I can't stand Simon but I do care about him. And I want him to be happy. It's obvious that you make him happy. In fact I haven't seen him this happy since before we were married."

"What happened?" Denise blurted out, her face turning as red as a tomato as soon as the words left her mouth.

"After Alvin supposedly died, Simon grew distant. He took it so hard and I tried being there for him and supporting him but it got to be so difficult. I just wanted my husband back. So one night I asked Simon's friend Paulie if he would listen to me and he did. The next thing I knew it was morning, I was in Paulie's bed with him, we were both naked, and I had the worst hangover ever. We agreed to never speak of it again and when I found out I was pregnant we both agreed to tell Simon it was his. After I told him he came back, he wasn't depressed anymore, and he was the guy I fell in love with again. Then he found out the baby wasn't his and he left for New York. I considered making up with him but he abandoned me so I filed for divorce. And that's pretty much it."

"I am so sorry,"

Jeanette waved it off with her paw. "It's all in the past. He's with you now and that's all that matters. And I just want you to know that you and Simon have my full support, blessing, or whatever the heck you want to call it."

Denise looked at the brunette chipette shocked. She never would have thought that she would be having this conversation with Simon's ex-wife. She certainly never would have believed that Jeanette would be saying that she wanted her and Simon to be together.

"Come on, let's go find Brittany and Eleanor." Jeanette told her with a smile.

The two girls began walking again and Denise couldn't help but ask, "Brittany hates me right?"

"Oh yeah, she can't stand you."


End file.
